Time to jump on the cowboy jewellery trend

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The bolo tie, a staple of Western neckwear, recently returned to the catwalks at Martine Rose and Louis Vuitton along with 10-gallon hats and rodeo shirts. But, rather than sporting rhinestones, things are getting precious: the bolo’s braided leather cords have been replaced by adjustable precious-metal strands and blinged out with diamonds. Enter: the slider necklace. 

Beyoncé channelled frontier attitude in February when she paired an all-white Prabal Gurung look with De Beers’s Prelude necklace from its Metamorphosis collection. Looped through a line of classic diamonds, the diamond-set slider was topped with a 10.05ct pear-shaped yellow diamond, accentuated with white, rose and yellow gold. The singer again chose De Beers to usher in her Cowboy Carter album, posing with the Dewdrop necklace with a pavé-set slider. In the house’s latest high-jewellery collection, Forces of Nature, the slider features once more, most notably in the Spirituality Sautoir, featuring a pair of coiling white-gold horns that top a detachable 3.01ct cushion-cut diamond (it doubles as a brooch).

Wear it with a tailored blazer and nothing underneath

A large part of the slider’s appeal lies in its versatility. Worn either as a choker or a sautoir, left to drape across the clavicle or adorn a backless look, a slider necklace offers a wealth of styling possibilities. “It’s up to the wearer to figure out what the best version is on them,” says Pierre Rainero, Cartier’s director of image, style and heritage, whose new Cartier Libre Tuttitutti necklace features a zingy chrysoprase slider that glides along a twisted gold chain topped with tassels of diamonds, chrysoprases and onyx beads. Celebrity stylist Nicky Yates, whose clients include Naomi Ackie and Felicity Jones, agrees: “They offer great versatility for looks with different necklines.”

Cartier white- and yellow-gold, diamond, onyx and chrysoprase Tuttitutti necklace, POA

Piaget rose-gold and diamond Possession pendant necklace, £9,850, harrods.com

Chaumet rose-gold and diamond Bee My Love pendant, £5,860

David Yurman silver and diamond Petite X Lariat necklace, $675

Sliders have long been popular as transformable jewels, dating back to the 19th century. Cartier’s archives hold a 1906 Lavallière necklace with a knot-like motif and detachable pendants that may be worn as a brooch, and a 1952 twisted gold number that has no clasp and is simply tied around the neck. But perhaps the most evocative predecessor to today’s slider is Van Cleef & Arpels’s iconic 1950 zip necklace, comprising a bejewelled fastener that can be zipped up and down the neck, or fully closed to transform into a bracelet. Engineered over more than 10 years at the suggestion of the Duchess of Windsor, the piece is believed to have been inspired by Elsa Schiaparelli.

That same deference to transformation is at the heart of Chanel’s new high-jewellery collection, Haute Joaillerie Sport, thanks to a push-button slider that glides along a necklace. Comprising white gold, diamonds, onyx and black lacquer, the necklace’s slider button is topped with a 5.19ct diamond that can be positioned to create either a double-row choker or a sautoir. As Patrice Leguéreau, the late director of Chanel’s fine-jewellery creation studio, explained: “This collection is refined and streamlined to create jewellery that embraces the body’s anatomy in the same way as sportswear.”

But the new slider styles are not just for red-carpet rodeos. The latest diamond-set gold slider in Piaget’s Possession line has a delicate carved gold finish to match its vintage-style gold chain. Chaumet offers a slider interpretation of its popular Bee My Love necklace, the ends of the rose-gold chain set with gold and diamond honeycomb motifs. Meanwhile, New York’s Marli has recently incorporated diamond and gold sliders in the rings and necklaces of its LIFE collection. 

Marli rose-gold and diamond Spinning Cravat necklace, £7,800

Chanel white-gold, diamond, onyx and black lacquer Haute Joaillerie Sport necklace, POA

At Pomellato, stylish Iconica sliders are ringed with a trio of either peridot, blue topaz or Pyrope garnet. The Italian house subtly leant into the Western theme last year when it unveiled a lariat-style Catene Milano high-jewellery necklace. Peppered with diamond rings along its gold, rope-mesh chain, a central clasp can be fixed to move up and down the piece, while a swivelling and diamond-pavé hardware-style jewel dangles from the end. Meanwhile, Carolina Bucci’s scarf mesh necklace riffs off the slider design, updated with rings that the wearer can add or remove according to their whim. 

The slider’s multiwear appeal makes the design feel right for now, whether in service of the cowboy craze or merely as a hard-working piece in your jewellery box. Yates suggests it can even replace a top. Wear it with “a tailored blazer and nothing underneath”, she counsels. “I’d opt for a delicate chain with a subtle gemstone slider to keep it clean and contemporary.”