“Under the vision of creative director Janthony Oliveras, the look was becoming more restrained and more intentional. Gloves replaced rings. A shirt and tie eliminated the need for necklaces. Brooches felt out of place,” Linares said. While all of these things can be disappointing for a jewelry designer who normally would like to adorn his client in the finest jewels, an active performance meant that less would be more and would make a bolder statement.
“Then I heard a small detail about the outfit. A simple rope belt. A monochromatic bone white palette. An intentional reference to jíbaro culture,” he said. “That changed everything. Because suddenly the question wasn’t, ‘What is the most spectacular piece I can design?’ It became, ‘What is the most honest one?’” For Linares, the answer was a simple, four-prong stud.
Courtesy of De Beers.
For quite some time, Linares had been drawn to natural diamonds for their history, real color, and imperfections. Leaning toward antique cuts, he felt like the stone he selected for Bad Bunny’s earring had lived a life before making its way to him. And it did. It made a “quiet sprint” from the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, as Linares relied on the help of his dear friend Emmy Kondo, vice president of marketing at De Beers, who gathered options for him to choose from. “Nothing decorative. Nothing loud. Just a beautiful diamond, allowed to exist on its own,” he said. “I chose a marquise cut, subtly echoing the shape of a football.”
“I kept thinking about something Benito once said, that this moment wasn’t just a win for him, but for everyone who came before him, who ran the yards so he could score a touchdown for his people and his culture,” he said. “The shape suddenly felt symbolic. Elegant, elongated, timeless. He loved it immediately.”
When it came down to it, the single earring became the only piece of jewelry worn, aside from an unreleased 18-carat yellow gold Audemars Piguet 37-mm watch with a malachite dial, styled by Linares’s close friend and creative partner, Storm Pablo, which completed the cloud white look. It made a bold statement on a stage full of meaning for the Puerto Rican megastar.
“It wasn’t the loudest design I’ve ever made. But it might be the most meaningful,” Linares said.
