Jewels was adapted from the bestselling Danielle Steel novel of the same name by Shelley List and Jonathan Estrin, who also served as executive producers.

Tony Scott of Variety called it "overblown" and wrote that "Jewels barely reaches above pulp".

Finding O'Toole, Andrews and Prochnow unremarkable, Scott complimented Villiers' and Taylor's "surprising vitality" as the Whitfield sons and also praised Howells, Gish and Oates as William and Sarah's parents.

[1] Jewels was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV and Andrews was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV.

Composer Patrick Williams won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music Composition for a Miniseries or a Special for Part I.