For a show about immense wealth, I’ve always found the jewelry on Succession to be quite discreet. I want to see Marcia in a Hemmerle Harmony bangle, or Rhea in Sidney Garber rolling bracelets, or Gerri in Verdura beads, or Shiv in a Pomellato pendant. “That is absolutely intentional," says Succession costume designer Michelle Matland, fresh off the airing of the show’s season finale. “Each piece is supremely character-driven."
"Marcia is the only person who has ever worn jewelry that is supposed to be read as wealth, and not just quality—because they only buy quality, it’s all they know," says Matland. "She has an eye for it and is of a certain generation. I imagine Marcia as someone who might have been a muse to a fashion designer when she was 17. She doesn’t come from money but can fit into that world. She caught Logan’s eye at a party somewhere. She is still understated, but her jewelry is a lot more obvious. But that’s also because, of course, most of it would be gifts from Logan. And we know he is not choosing these pieces himself. He has an assistant who calls someone at Tiffany or Bulgari and orders something, so that is going to be something bigger. It’s about the gift, not the choice.”
And what of Shiv—who, along with her now signature turtlenecks, has exhibited a new taste for delicate pendant necklaces that dangle over them? “Remember, Shiv was in the political world so a certain kind of jewelry would not be the right kind of message,” says Matland,"but this season she goes into who she knows she is. She does not want to be seen just a Roy— she wants be to Shiv first. The jewelry she picks is understated by choice."
"And a lot of Shiv’s taste comes from her mother, who has a very European approach, says Matland. "She is not going to be wearing the crown jewels to dinner. Except for the gala in ‘Dundee’ where she has on serious jewelry and the diamond in her hair. There she is playing a role. She is standing by her father. None of the jewelry comes from a store with a name you would know. One of her necklaces is something I picked up at Sundance. Other pieces are from antique stores or sometimes even my own closet."
What Would the Cast of Succession Wear?
Sidney Garber Rolling Bracelet
Monica Rich Kosann 18K Yellow Gold Round Locket Necklace
Pomellato Sabbia 18K Rose Gold & Multicolor Diamond Cocktail Ring
Verdura 18k Gold Curb Link Necklace with Diamonds
The charm necklace Rhea wears when she resigns from Waystar in D.C belonged, in fact, to Matland’s mother, a woman named Honey who was, “erudite and sophisticated and a little wisp of a thing like Holly Hunter. I had my mother's necklace on hold for Holly. It has charms she found at flea markets in Paris and in New York—when there were flea markets in New York."
Matland imagine Rhea as someone who would have traveled after college. "She went to an Ivy League school or a women’s college and when she graduated she took six months off before grad school, but then in the middle of that she dropped out because she got offered a great job.”
Sometimes the jewelry functions as a secret weapon. “Gerri,” says Mayland, “has the most subtle jewelry, classic baroque pearls for example. But she always has on multiple rings, two rings on one hand, and they're almost never the same. You don’t really see them but it gives J. Smith Cameron something to play with. It’s a kind of secret. Like exotic panties. Or if Kendall had on cashmere underpants. It lets the actors live in the body of a character."
And what of Mrs. Pierce, the patrician matriarch whose jewelry style stood in stark contrast even to the most understated of Roys? “They are antithetical to the Roy upbringing. This is old, old money. If something doesn’t say 'heirloom' I don’t even think they would consider it. They look in the mirror to wipe away hair in their face, or to straighten a tie, not to look at the full image."
Everything had to feel like it was worn before. "For Cherry Jones' character we did the most traditional gold knot studs, something you might find in the Elsa Peretti section of Tiffany. And she would have had them forever. They don’t want to be new.”
Matland concedes that the discretion in the jewelry has her constantly walking a fine line. “There is a balance between being so subtle it doesn’t read, and subtle where it helps to tell the story. But the actor is the final word on all of this.”
And where will the jewelry go next season? Will Shiv order a Monica Rich Kosann locket pendant off the Bergdorf Goodman website? Will Rhea use her severance to go on a Sidney Garber spending spree at their store on Madison? Will Marcia revenge-buy at the Hemmerle booth at the TEFAF Art Fair?
“Who knows where next season might go. It can go anywhere,” says Matland. “I mean, is someone going to jail?” That plot line of course, would require jewelry of another sort.
Editor-in-Chief Stellene Volandes is a jewelry expert, and the author of Jeweler: Masters and Mavericks of Modern Design (Rizzoli).
