Go Fish: Why Fish Motifs Are the Jewellery Trend of the Summer
No one could have predicted the hottest jewellery trend of the summer of 2026 - but the fish motifs are everywhere this year. 2024 had euro summer - the dream of mediterranean summers by the beach, of turquoise waters.
In 2025, the trend got more specific, as the aestethic expanded into food with the launch of Bottega Veneta’s iconic sardine bag - suddenly sardines were everywhere.
This year, the trend is taken even further. Fish motifs are everywhere, especially in fine jewellery, and Marie Claire recently dubbed it the biggest jewellery trend of the summer - and we’re ready to dive in!
The Evidence: From the Mediterranean to Your Jewellery Box
For the last few summers, the euro summer aesthetic has been everywhere - and it’s clear that the colourful and playful fashion sticks around for another summer. Last year, the launch of the “Sardine bag” really cemented the fish motifs as a key player in this trend - and that mood didn't disappear when September arrived. It settled into the culture, and by early 2026 it had found its way into fine jewellery - recently being named the biggest jewellery trend of the summer.
This is a trend with real range. A fish motif in fine jewellery can be quietly symbolic, referencing millennia of meaning across cultures. It can be joyful and playful, the gold equivalent of ordering the catch of the day. It can be bold and sculptural, or delicate enough to sit alongside a diamond tennis necklace without competing.
That versatility — serious or playful, statement or subtle — is exactly why it has resonated so widely, and why it shows no sign of swimming away anytime soon.
Why Now: A Motif With Millennia Behind It
Here is the thing about the fish motif: it has never really been out. It has simply been waiting for the culture to catch up.
In ancient Egypt, fish amulets were worn as protection against drowning — the logic being that a fish, native to the water, could not sink. In ancient Rome, the fish symbolised abundance and fertility. In East Asian traditions, the koi carries meanings of perseverance and transformation that have never left the culture. The ichthys — the early Christian fish symbol — was worn at a time when belief required concealment, making the fish one of history's first pieces of meaningful jewellery. Victorian goldsmiths rendered fish in enamel and gold as symbols of the soul. René Lalique, at the height of Art Nouveau, made some of the most extraordinary fish pieces the jewellery world had seen.
The point is that every time the fish surfaces in fine jewellery, it arrives with centuries of meaning already attached. That depth is precisely what makes it interesting right now — in a moment when buyers are increasingly drawn to pieces with genuine story behind them, not just aesthetic appeal.
And then there is the Sardine Girl Summer connection — which is more than just a cultural rhyme. The Mediterranean aesthetic that captured the imagination in 2025 was fundamentally about a relationship with the ocean: unhurried, sensory, rooted in nature. Fish motif jewellery is the natural extension of that feeling into something you can wear every day, long after the summer tan has faded.
Ole Lynggaard Copenhagen - Founded in Copenhagen in 1963 by Ole Lyngaard, the now prestigious jewellery house is still family owned and spans across these three generations. Today, the Lynggaard family stay committed to the finest Danish jewellery handcraft, with each piece handmade in their workshops north of Copenhagen.The Young Fish collection was one of Sofia Lynggaard Norman's debute collections after joining her grandfather's jewellery house, and it is inspired by her diving trips in Australia. Browse Ole Lynggaard here.
Kinz Kanaan - Founded by Danish-Palestinian designer Maysoun Kanaan, Kinz Kanaan blends intricate Middle Eastern craft traditions with Scandinavian restraint, each piece drawn from calligraphy, floral ornament and the ancient artistic heritage of the land of Canaan.The ocean pieces carry a sense of the water as a living subject — the movement, the depth, the quality of light that exists under the surface and nowhere else. Browse Kinz Kanaan here.
Carolinne B - Founded by Swedish designer and smith Carolinne Barholm, Carolinne B Jewelry transforms nature into wearable sculpture — bold, symbolic pieces crafted in recycled silver and gold plating when possible, with upcycled diamonds and gemstones sourced from auctions and pre-owned jewellery. When it comes to fish motifs, Carolinne works specifically with the koi fish. The koi is not simply a fish; in Japanese culture it represents perseverance, transformation, and the capacity to move upstream against resistance. It is a talisman as much as a motif. Browse Carolinne B here.
How to style it
Let one fish piece lead. The motif is strong enough to anchor a look entirely on its own. An Ole Lynggaard Young Fish pendant against a bare neckline, a koi ring worn alone — the piece carries the composition without needing support.
Play with the ocean world around it. A fish piece alongside a pearl — the ocean's most enduring contribution to jewellery — or a wave-inspired ring creates a composition that feels personal and considered rather than themed. The rule: two ocean references, not five.
Don't put it away in September. The fish motif is ancient and cross-cultural precisely because it isn't seasonal. A koi piece in January, worn against a dark coat, carries as much meaning as the same piece at the beach. This is jewellery for the whole year — the summer is just the perfect moment to start.
From Sardine Girl Summer to the pages of Marie Claire, the fish has had a year. The designers who understood this before the rest of the market - who have been rendering the motif in gold and diamonds with genuine craft and intention- are the ones to know.
One thing is for sure: we're diving in.
Explore all symbol motifs from independent designers on The Jewellery Room.