1. THE TREND: Bedazzled, whimsical nails that are embellished or infused with gold, diamonds and gemstones
2. WHO’S DOING IT? Margot Robbie, Alysa Liu, Rosé, Serena Williams, Mellerio, the world’s oldest jewellery house
3. HOW CAN I GET IT? Spend thousands on 18-karat gold nail ornaments, or go DIY and raid your jewellery box! From pearls and rhinestones to chains, anything goes

The clean girl manicure is dead – diamonds, whimsy and bedazzled nails killed her. It seems like a new chapter of nail art is coming along, and it’s heavy on bling in a new kind of way. Yes, rhinestone nails have been around for decades, but just look at Mellerio, the Paris maison considered the world’s oldest jewellery house, which during Paris Couture Week unveiled gem-set 18-karat gold nail ornaments inspired by a design in their 1951 archives. Rosé wore real silver chains on her nails as well as Tiffany pearl and diamond earrings, and Serena Williams had yellow diamond-shaped nails at Wimbledon 2026 in lieu of the traditional diamond tennis bracelet. It’s no surprise: maximalism in make-up has been on the rise lately too, with MUAs like Sophie Sinot, Alexandra French, Ngozi Esther Edeme and Dee Carrion leading the way on bringing bold, expressive looks back into the zeitgeist. 

Real stones have begun migrating from the jewellery box to nails in other ways too: Margot Robbie recently wore over a carat of genuine diamonds and rubies on her nails applied by manicurist Betina Goldstein; Olympic champion Alysa Liu followed at the 2026 Met Gala with nude nails studded in diamonds by the same artist, and Kate Hudson took the idea to the Oscars in “diamond dust-infused” Essie polish. In the world of make-up, Pat McGrath’s new Pandora collection is also closing the gap between jewellery and beauty.

It’s never been a more interesting time for jewellery to traverse nails. One might argue that with increased screen time and AI being forced onto our world from every corner, we as a society have never had a greater craving for all things tactile and whimsical. It’s impossible to ignore the current bedazzling trend on social media, where people are taking rhinestones and hand-studding everything from cars to Starbucks cups. Kylie Jenner’s birthday cake was even covered in chunky rainbow gems. The trend had a moment in the early 2000s too and now corresponds to a cultural revival of “whimsymaxxing”. “Gen Z has embraced crystals, gems and sparkles in an attempt to inject more joy in the everyday. Few items have been spared,” The New York Times wrote in an article titled “Car? Breast Pump? Dog? Bedazzle It.” Nails have not been exempt. Dua Lipa, Sabrina Carpenter and Jenner have all shown off bedazzled manicures over the last few months. 

Nail artist Mei Kawajiri has seen an increase in demand for jewellery-inspired nails, adding everything from pearls and rhinestones to chains to her creations, as well as piercings. “Online I’ve been seeing crystals on bikinis, face masks, hair, especially colourful jewels,” she says. “Tiny ones, big ones, so many sizes… I personally love big jewels more than tiny ones. They remind me of when I was a kid, playing with stone stickers and putting them on my ears like earrings.”

While it’s true that rhinestone nails have been popular for decades, this new era is pushing boundaries in a different way. “The revival of bedazzled nails is perfectly in step with the heightened interest we’re seeing in nostalgia, maximalism and personal expression in fashion,” says Summer Anne Lee, fashion historian and adjunct instructor at the Fashion Institute of Technology. “For years, nail trends have favoured a more restrained aesthetic, from nude and milky-white manicures to glazed and chrome finishes. Now we’re seeing a peak in interest for an era of visible personalisation as a counterpoint to the ‘clean girl’ aesthetic that dominated beauty in the late 2010s and early 2020s.”

Mellerio, which chose to revive a design straight from its own 1950s history, is intentionally pushing how jewellery interacts with the body. “Historically, the 1950s were a golden age for precious, playful accessories like jewelled vanity cases and eyewear,” says Laure-Isabelle Mellerio, the brand’s president and artistic director. “By treating the fingernail with the same high-jewellery seriousness as an ear, a wrist or a neckline, we are redefining the boundaries of adornment. It transforms a gesture into a flash of light and turns a personal beauty ritual into a genuine piece of wearable art.”

The jewellery house’s original design was patented by Mellerio in 1951 under the name "garniture décorative pour ongles" (decorative nail trim). The original palladium material has been updated with 18-karat gold and real gemstones like black diamonds are now included in the designs as a nod to modernity. If you follow any vintage sellers who deal in jewellery, you may have also come across archival solid gold nails from the 80s lately – the trend was popular back then too and aligned with the decadence and fantasy of the era.

Likewise, Lee associates the trend with the “conspicuous customisation,” youth culture and DIY movements of the late 1960s and 1970s. “For example, we saw a strong DIY ethos associated with hippie and countercultural dress,” she says. “When it comes specifically to nails, however, I immediately think of Black American beauty culture from the 1980s onward. Black women were enormously influential in developing the elaborate nail aesthetics that eventually became mainstream, from extreme lengths and acrylics to rhinestones and other forms of decoration. Think of Olympic champion Florence Griffith Joyner, whose extraordinarily long, decorated nails became an inseparable part of her visual identity, or the female hip-hop artists of the 1990s and 2000s, who used elaborate nails as another way of expressing the scene's focus on glamour and bling.” 

As Mellerio says, “Today, the cultural landscape has finally caught up with a vision we first had over 70 years ago. We are witnessing a broader evolution in luxury where fine jewellery is becoming more expressive and beauty is becoming more artistic.”