| History of Jewelry | ||||||||||||||||
Jewelry has been used as symbols of emotions represented by specific stones or jewelry designs. Tears could be represented by tiny seed pearls, eternal love by a serpent or lizard. Certain gems have been thought to have healing or magical properties. (Examples are the various birthstones.) People through the ages have had their lucky charms - to bring wealth, happiness, love, or just to ward off evil spirits or bad luck. If you decide to collect vintage and antique jewelry, you probably enjoy other types of antiques, as well. The advantage with jewelry is that you can wear your antiques and share your interest and knowledge with others. In older pieces, the craftsmen's attention to detail and workmanship is rarely found in modern designs. I've known people who purchased only the most basic elements of clothing, preferring to spend their time and money searching out great pieces of antique jewelry. Clothing was to provide a backdrop for their jewelry, well... okay... and to prevent arrest for indecency. Understanding jewelry terminology and time frames can help a collector to determine the value and age of a piece. Here are some terms to consider: # Estate jewelry means "pre-owned." It may or may not be old. # Collectible jewelry usually means a costume piece that is no longer in production. # Period jewelry is a term that broadly covers jewelry from a specific chronological era. # Circa dating jewelry gives an approximate date covering a 20-year span. If something is "circa 1860" that tells you that it was made within a time period of 1850 to 1870. |
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Georgian Jewelry of the 1700 and 1800's can be a challenge to find. Over the years, people often valued the "ingredients" of a piece more than the piece, itself. Gold and Silver would be melted down and reformed, stones would be removed, etc - all to create the latest style from pieces deemed "old-fashioned". This being the case, examples of Georgian jewelry are fairly rare and complete parures are almost impossible to find intact. If your search is diligent, however, you can still come across brooches, rings, (and with luck) earrings and necklaces for this time period. The era is named after England's Kings, George I, II, & III. This was a time when the aristocratic and wealthy classes wore an abundance of jewels - men, as well as women. Jeweled buttons on coats and knee breeches, pocket watches, chains, fobs and jeweled shoe buckles were worn by both sexes. Women would often wear full parures (a set of matching necklace, ring, bracelets, earrings, and tiara, or aigrette,) or demi-parures (2-3 matching pieces).
Social changes are always reflected in fashion. The French Revolution brought some strange and morbid motifs into vogue. One was the wearing of a thin, red ribbon tight around the throat - to simulate a guillotine victim. Other jewelry of the revolution were items shaped like the freedom cap or made from pieces of stone from the Bastille prison. Elements Common in Georgian Jewelry: # Crowned Heart Design is usually found as rings and were intended as love tokens, symbolizing love's rule. # Silver over Gold, particularly in jewelry pieces with Diamonds. The white color of the Silver was thought to highlight the whiteness of the diamonds. Silver can be the whole front of a piece or just have a small ring encircling the stones. The back is often left without silver covering the gold (to protect the wearer from tarnish). # Closed backs should be evident in stone-set pieces. (Open backed stones only started being made around 1800.) Foil would often be put behind the stones to help reflect light or even to change or enhance color. Many of the backs are highly decorated with etching. # Cannetille designs are made up of tightly wound gold wirework. This motif could make up the whole piece or be a design element added on top of a metal base. # Mourning Jewelry or "Memento Mori" is jewelry made to honor the dead. Popular designs show a skull or skeleton, black stones, or black enamel. Hair could form a design or be mixed in with paint to create a picture. See more specifics about this type of jewelry on the page Mourning & Hair Jewelry. # Stomacher is a term for a large brooch that would cover a gown from the low cut neckline down to the waist or just above. # Chatelaines are a type of jewelry worn at the waist with work implements suspended by chains. Some are made up of sewing implements: scissors, knives, as well as decorative fobs. These were worn up until the beginning of the 1920's. # Floral Designs showing a single stem or bouquet of flowers were popular. Unlike later eras, the designs were not intended to duplicate nature or be a recognizable flower; they're stylized, sometimes rather flat-looking # Mine Cut or Rose Cut diamonds were the norm. These show fewer facets, with more variations than modern stones. (Stone-cutting was difficult and used less sophisticated tools.) Mine cuts have a flat top; Rose cuts have a pointed top. You can read more about gem cuts at Gem Cuts in Antique Jewelry # Paste was often used in Georgian jewelry and was set in the same quality of setting as precious stones and were hand cut to fit it's settings. It wasn't considered "cheating" to wear paste and it wasn't necessarily intended to fool anyone. Aristocrats and royalty wore it without apology. You sometimes need a diamond tester to tell if a stone is paste or a diamond. (Rhinestones are from later eras; they're machine made and of uniform sizes.) Paste stones were individually cut to fit the jewelry piece. Colored paste of this era is quite rare to and more expensive than the white color. # Girandole Earrings - have a stone at the ear lobe and 3 drops that hang from it. # Sevigne Bow is a floppy-shaped bow, very natural looking. It's most often found as a brooch. # Cameos became a craze after being popularized around 1800 by Josephine, wife of Napoleon. She wore a headdress of antique cameos to her coronation. Additional interest was sparked by discoveries of ancient carved cameos in archeological digs of the time. Reproductions of these ancient artworks have maintained their popularity as a jewelry motif throughout the various eras. # Necklaces of the Georgian era, usually had rings on both end pieces where a ribbon was threaded through and tied in a bow at the neck. (it's rare to find these in their original state, most examples you find have had clasps added.) Brooches would be put on ribbons and worn as necklaces or bracelets. # Ferronieres were head ornaments worn with a jewel that sat on the forehead. It was a fad of short duration during the Georgian and Victorian eras. Once the style was over many pieces were remade into necklaces or bracelets. # Marcasite and Cut Steel were common materials used at the time. The earliest examples of cut steel will have inset pieces, individually riveted (later examples used larger plates). # Pinchbeck (an alloy of copper and zinc used as a substitute for gold) was only made for a short while. The formula to create it died with its maker. It doesn't show wear like gold-fill pieces and maintains it's luster better than other materials that simulate real gold. Examples of this material are scarce and it's can be hard to find someone who can identify it. # All jewelry of the Georgian era was hand made. A piece should show some irregularity and shouldn't look too "perfect". Cuts of stones may look cruder than those of later eras. Jewelry that comes apart to form different pieces is especially prized from this era. A piece that initially looks to be a necklace might be designed to come apart and form two bracelets - or a bracelet could become a brooch and earrings, for example. It's a particularly lucky collector who finds a Georgian piece in its original case; this heightens its future value. Life expectancy wasn't long in the Georgian era; medicine and sanitation were primitive and disease spread quickly. There were huge contrasts between the lives of the small number of rich and the rest of the population. Most people couldn't such luxuries as jewelry. But to those with a privileged life, it was an opulent and luxurious era with sumptuous fabrics, elegant jewelry, and beautiful houses. EARLY VICTORIAN or ROMANTIC ERA The Victorian era covers such a long period of time that many styles are covered in the one name, "Victorian". Transitions were not usually abrupt and a piece can show several influences at once. This can create some confusion in dating a piece. The Art Nouveau era, for example, overlaps the time period for Victorian jewelry but has a unique and very recognizable style. (These styles are discussed individually.) The Victorian Era gets it's name from England's Queen Victoria, who ascended the throne in 1837 at the age of 18. The queen was an influence on fashion and jewelry styles and this was particularly true during the early years of her reign. Victoria was the only child of Edward, Duke of Kent (a son of George III) and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg. Her father died while she was a child leaving her as heir to the throne after the deaths of her uncles, William IV (king from 1830 - 1837) and his predecessor George IV (king from 1820 - 1830). The country hoped she would usher in a new era of stability and dignity after the scandals of her uncles' reigns. One transition style that covers both the end of the Georgian and beginning of the Victorian eras are Ferronieres. These were chains or ribbons studded with a center jewel intended to be worn on the forehead. Queen Victoria was known to own several and gave them as gifts. Another type of late Georgian, early Victorian jewelry are the very delicate and fragile pieces made up of hundreds of Seed Pearls sewn onto templates of Mother-of-Pearl with white horsehair. Very time consuming to create, they can be very expensive and tedious to repair. These beautiful pieces are very wearable but need to be treated with care. This jewelry technique became popular in the Georgian era, peaked in the 1860's and then fell out of favor. In these years fashion turned away from the earlier styles of body-hugging dresses. Skirts were wide, supported by hoops of wood and wire. Bodices and waists were tight and jewelry was worn in abundance. Multiple bracelets were worn along with brooches, necklaces, earrings, and rings. Queen Victoria wore lots of rings (sometimes multiples on each finger). Up until the last quarter of the 19th century, the most popular style for bracelets were those of 1" or more in width, either solid hinged bangles or ones of gold chain, pearls, and gemstones. Earrings were popular throughout the era (except for a few years during the 1840's and 1890's, when bonnet ribbons made them difficult to wear). As befitting an era called "Sentimental", love
tokens, mementoes, and souvenirs were all the rage. Lockets
were much-loved accessories and were made of every type
of material. They often held painted miniatures or (in
later years) small photographs, as well as locks of hair.
(Lockets were sometimes worn under the clothing to protect
the portrait or hair token from prying eyes.) Brooches were extremely popular and were worn in a variety of ways; on the shoulder, of course, but also at the neck, waist, in the hair, and on ribbons as necklaces and bracelets. In addition to silver, gold, and base metals, jewelry was created from Pique, Tortoiseshell, Mother-of-Pearl, and "Lava" (carved mud to form cameos). Religious symbols were mainstays of jewelry design in both the Georgian and Victorian eras; crosses, ivy, doves, and Greek letters were some. Snakes, symbols of eternity, were created as rings, bracelets, brooches and necklaces. Queen Victoria's engagement ring from Prince Albert was in the form of a serpent. Both sentimentality and symbolism were important elements of Victorian design. Jewelry could be read like books, the design telling of the giver's feelings or hopes. Examples of Symbolism: Specific gems could have specific meanings, for instance: Gems could be used as a type of code to spell out words. The first letter of the gems' names would stand for letters. In this way, a piece set with a Diamond, Emerald, Amethyst, and Ruby (in that order) would spell the work "DEAR". Other examples of this "code" can be found spelling out: Fidelity, Gratitude, Ever Thine, Baby, Mother, and individual names. This practice went on in various countries, and languages - which can make deciphering the code tricky. "MIZPAH", a word taken from the Bible, means, "The Lord watch over me and thee when we are parted one from the other." Today's collector can come across these pieces in a variety of materials and all forms of jewelry. Fine jewelry in the Victorian era was more than just a show of wealth. It was intended to reflect the social standing and status of the wearer and their family. Rigid rules determined what jewelry was deemed "appropriate". In Europe, only the simplest of jewelry was worn by young, unmarried women - crosses, pearls, chains, and mourning jewelry. Married women "of a certain age" were the only ones thought suitable as wearers of diamonds and gems. American women, not being raised with these strict rules, were often criticized for wearing "inappropriate" jewelry when they visited Europe. In spite of such censure, rich American heiresses were in great demand as brides of impoverished European nobility - their dowries and rich jewelry making their fashion errors forgivable. Victorian jewelry designers loved natural themes and flowers as did earlier generations. An interesting design innovation is a piece set en tremblant - a French word that means, "trembling". In jewelry of this sort part of the design is mounted on a spring - this way the jewelry has a twinkling effect, moving slightly as the wearer moves. The Victorians were practical in their jewelry designs. As with the Georgian era, many pieces were made to come apart to form a myriad number of wearable items. A necklace could have a metal rod added, making it rigid and wearable as a tiara. A necklace could come apart to make bracelets and earrings. Early Victorian designs are generally small and delicate unlike the larger, heavier, and more ornate pieces made later. Another fashion of the Victorian era (which some people find disturbing) is Hair Jewelry. Pieces of jewelry were made to incorporate locks of hair, as love tokens or as mementos from deceased loved ones. The hair is placed inside a crystal, sometimes just a curl, or weavings. Elaborate designs and pictures could be made out of hair or the hair, itself, was could be used to make chains, rings, earrings. Virtually every type of jewelry was made of hair, some very complex in the weaving techniques used. You can read more and see examples of this jewelry on the page Mourning & Hair Jewelry In the early Victorian era, Diamonds and Pearls were rare and expensive, available only to the rich. But many alternatives were available to the middle class such as: Amethysts, Opals, Turquoise, and Freshwater Pearls. Looking at gems or stones set into a piece of jewelry can be a major clue to determining a date. It's either a reproduction or a "married" piece" when you find one with a gem that's "wrong" for the time period. I've tried to give some helpful advice at Buying Antique Jewelry. Among the information on this page is advice on how to tell the material of a piece, looking for signs of repair, testing, and more. Stones Commonly Found in Victorian Jewelry: Some materials Commonly Found in Victorian Jewelry: LATE VICTORIAN OR AESTHETIC PERIOD
Several eras of jewelry design occurred in overlapping
time frames (sort of sub-divisions of "Victorian Jewelry")
and continued into the Edwardian Era. Art Nouveau jewelry
(roughly 1880-1914) and Arts & Crafts (1890-1914) are
such unique styles that they're discussed individually,
on separate pages. Art Nouveau & Arts & Crafts In the late 1800's, Darwin's controversial theories on evolution, as well as new botanical discoveries taking place, created popular interest in the natural world. Of course, personal adornment reflected these new interests with jewelry created in forms of insects and animals. Some are typical jewelry items, for example - gem set butterflies, gold houseflies, enameled beetles, silver monkeys, etc. But there are also more unusual forms of ornaments. Animal jewelry that may seem ghoulish to modern tastes are those that incorporate body parts of animals or birds. Concepts of conservation or ecology weren't considerations and Victorians had no qualms about exploiting natural resources or hunting animals (sometimes to extinction). You can still find this type of jewelry, a brooch made from a grouse foot (a game bird) or sometimes, whole hummingbird heads taxidermied and set into gold or silver. These are so unusual that they, too, are discussed on a separate page to show a range of examples. These may not be to everyone's taste but they're worth knowing about. Both types of jewelry are discussed at Animal & Insect Jewelry Small brooches called Lace pins are easily found today. These were worn, several pieces at a time, by ladies to secure pieces of lace to their ensemble. Sweet little things, they're often accented with seed pearls, natural or synthetic stones and come in all qualities of gold and goldfill. Because so many pieces were made, they come in all price ranges and make a great collection. Wide bangle Bracelets were eventually replaced with narrow, rigid bangles toward the end of the era, and never went out of favor. Another example is the mesh bracelet, usually in Gold or Gold Fill accented with a fringed end. These don't normally need a clasp. They slide open and are kept stationary by cork on the underside of the decorative top. One of many Victorian designs still found in modern bracelets
is the curb link bracelet. These incorporate a lock clasp
(sometimes heart-shaped with it's own tiny key) that dangles
from the wrist chain. Often given as love tokens they symbolize
the "capture of my heart". Dangling earrings were popular and shapes could be very unusual to modern eyes - insects, human faces, and fossils are examples. Around the closing decades of the 1800's, the fashion changed and smaller earrings, including simple studs, became the preferred style. Around 1870, round lockets of dried flowers and butterflies became popular. Materials could be Silver, Gold, Gold-fill, Silver Plate, and Glass. Sizes from this era are usually larger than those made earlier.
Chatelaines, worn throughout the Georgian and Victorian eras, endured until the 1920's and were worn hooked over the waistband of a dress or apron. Originally, they were made as ornaments to hold a watch on a chain, sometimes with decorative fobs. Later, additional items were added: seals, scissors, etuis (sewing cases), vinaigrettes, thimbles cases, buttonhooks, knives, etc.- all items in constant use. You can find chatelaines made in gold, silver, pinchbeck, cut-steel, and ivory to name only a few of the materials used. Designs run the gamut from relatively plain to extremely decorative. Now considered very collectible, prices can be very high. Hair combs were essential accessories for any lady until the 1920's trend for bobbed hair made them obsolete. Beautiful examples can be found made of tortoiseshell, silver, gold and gold plate, some set with pearls, (real or faux) and with semi-precious or precious stones. While the Victorian era has a reputation for puritanical morality, there are examples of jewelry that were considered "naughty" for the time. One example, bracelets designed to look like corsets, complete with the laces and buttons found on the real undergarment are rare but wonderful. Very spicy stuff for the end of the 1800's. When Queen Victoria died, she had reigned for sixty-four years - the longest reign in British history. The world was a completely different place from that which existed when she was first crowned. England's power was concentrated in the populace rather than the monarch. The secret ballot had been introduced. Britain had fought the Boer and Crimean Wars. The U.S. and France had both suffered internal wars. Industrialization and new methods of manufacturing had taken over. New methods of sanitation and medical care were being discovered and put into practice. The rights of women, children, the poor and the mentally ill became important issues. It must have seemed staggering to people who looked back on their lives and saw the enormous amount of change in their world. EDWARDIAN ERA
Fine jewelry of the Edwardian era used a lot of Diamonds, white Gold, and Platinum. Although Platinum had been available earlier, it had been very difficult to work with so the new technology made it more practical for jewelry. Designs were made with delicacy to blend with the current tastes for fabrics of lace and silk. The lightness of design was also made possible through the use of Millegrain and Invisible settings, as well as by new gem stone cutting techniques. Millegrain settings use metal to secure a stone with ridges of tiny beads or grains surrounding it. Platinum and gold were made into openwork designs with Knife edges, a technique that used the edge of the metal. Pieces made using these techniques were lightweight with unobtrusive settings for the stones. Although they were beyond the reach of all but the wealthiest, Pearls were extremely important jewels in the Edwardian era. Queen Alexandra, wife of England's Kind Edward VII, wore 7 huge rows of pearls (each 24 - 30" long) to her coronation. Added to these were the rows of diamond chokers and multiple brooches that covered her dress. Faux pearls were made for less wealthy customers. (Cultured pearls, pearls that are "farmed" weren't yet available.) Tiny seed Pearls were often used to cover brooches and pendants or as accents in larger pieces. You'll also find irregularly shaped pearls (sometimes called "Shark's Tooth") as bottom drops on lavalieres. Necklaces of all kinds were very popular and can be found
by the collector. # The Sautoir is a very long necklace made of beads that fall below the waist; these often have tassels on the ends. This type of necklace would be popular through the Art Deco period. # A Lavaliere necklace is one that has a pendant suspended from a thin chain. These are the most common types of necklaces found from this era. Brooches were very much in favor and worn in multiples. Along with the insect and animal brooches mentioned previously, new motifs became popular reflecting the physical activities that women were now pursuing. Brooches with sporting motifs of fox heads, horseshoes, golf clubs, and riding crops can be found from this time period. Bracelets were worn both singly and in multiples. The "knife edge" technique, previously mentioned, was used to make lightweight pieces, often set with stones. Spring bracelets, unlike other antique bracelets that are often too small for the modern wearer, are designed to open wide and fit snugly onto the wrist. Bangles and chain bracelets set with gems are other examples of Edwardian jewelry that can still be found. Accessories, important for the era and still collectible today, are hatpins, watch fobs, and stickpins. Hatpins, of course, were necessary for the Edwardian lady to secure her large hats. Watch fobs can be found in abundance and today can be worn as pendants or charms. Stickpins, with all their variety are worthy of collecting as miniature works of art. All these items were made in base metals with faux gems as well as precious metals with real gems. Again, as with the late Victorian era, costume jewelry
in all different styles of the era, are easily found. Look
for these to be made using beads, gold and silver plate,
glass, brass, and other materials. Motifs Commonly Found in Edwardian Jewelry:
Stones and Metals Commonly Found in Edwardian jewelry: England's King Edward VII died in 1910 and his son, George V, succeeded to the throne. Styles didn't really change until the beginning of World War I in 1914, but with the onset of hostilities most aspects of life changed quickly. There were new ideas of reform in the workplace and in society, as a whole. Women had to fill job vacancies left by men now fighting and there was a renewed push for women's rights. Organizations were formed to demand higher standards of living for all classes of people. Massive casualties and the horrors of the war set the stage for the "live-for-today" attitudes of the 1920's. Styles, taboos, and social norms would never return to those of the Edwardian era. ART NOUVEAU ERA Art Nouveau design was first developed in France during the era called "La Belle Epoche" (The Beautiful Time). Coinciding with the Victorian era, it's a style intended as a statement against the industrialization of jewelry making. Designs are curvy, fluid; often of nude female figures, heads, insects, crescents, and common plants. The designs were sometimes intended to evoke mystical symbolism. Jewelry of this era was considered very "avant garde" for the time and it took a bold person who dared to wear it. Actresses, such as Sarah Bernhardt, were both inspirations for the designs as well as customers of the jewelry. Gems used were often paired with more unusual materials such as horn, amber, ivory, and blister pearls. It was the artistry of the piece that was most important - the materials used were secondary. Many of the plants and animals used in these designs had been considered too "common" to be used in jewelry before. Now, ordinary, everyday items were celebrated for their beauty and stylistic elements. Look for designs that incorporate: # Butterflies The art of Japan was a new and exciting influence on Art
Nouveau with the "opening" of Japan to the West
in 1853. Up until this time, it had virtually been a closed
society and society was fascinated by examples of designs
and goods from this mysterious and exotic country. Scenes
of nature, done in this style with it's simplicity and
understatement, made a major impact on European arts and
designs. The beautiful jewel-toned enamels, widely used
in Japan for centuries, were now duplicated in Art Nouveau
and Arts & Crafts designs. Types of Enamel used extensively in Art Nouveau era: Other famous makers from the era are Karl Faberge, George Fouquet, and Louis Tiffany. Of course, their work, along with Lalique's is the rarest of the rare. Most of their antique pieces can only seen in museums, although new jewelry pieces are still being made under company names that are still doing business. Major makers of Silver pieces in Art Nouveau style were William Kerr and the Unger Brothers. Their work usually incorporates repousse work within the piece's design, beautifully finished and ornate. Fashions come and go, of course and by 1915 this style
was no longer being produced. Once considered so scandalous
and racy, Art Nouveau style was considered old-fashioned
and "ugly". Owners of pieces packed them away
or, more horrifyingly, altered or scrapped them. Lots of reproductions in Art Nouveau style are available. So look at a piece closely, front and back. Reproductions are also being made of Plique A'Jour jewelry available in a wide range of price and quality. Some are finely made using gems and techniques that so closely replicate antiques they can be difficult to tell apart. Study both old and new pieces closely (along with books) to train your eye to spot the differences. ARTS & CRAFTS ERA The Arts and Crafts movement was a transitional period between the Art Nouveau and Art Deco eras. You can often see elements of both styles in a single piece of jewelry. Arts & Crafts was more than just a design style; it was a political and philosophical movement. Devotees of this art form interested themselves in social reform and individual rights. The style was a revolt against new technology they felt was destroying craftsmanship. It was their view that the imperfections and inconsistencies of hand-made pieces increased the beauty of a piece. The overall design was of primary importance, any stones or precious metals used were secondary. Designs were generally taken from nature and were often made to be abstract or symbolic. In metal-worked pieces, the craftsman would sometimes hammer the silver to heighten the hand-made look. The "Rational Dress Association" (a group that wanted to make women's dress more practical and comfortable with divided skirts, shorter lengths and greater ease of movement) was an important influence on jewelry makers. "Artistic" women who espoused this look were a source of great amusement to a certain writers and cartoonists. They didn't wear hoops, bustles, or tight corsets - preferring simpler garments. The Pre-Raphaelite artists were another major influence
on Arts & Crafts jewelry designs. Painters like Rossetti,
Hunt, and Millais would sometimes have specific items of
jewelry created in order to figure them prominently in
their paintings. Horner, Liberty and Ashbee are renowned
names from this era. In Arts and Crafts jewelry, cabochon cuts were preferred over faceted stones and Silver was the preferred metal over gold. As with Art Nouveau jewelry, "humble" materials, like brass and copper, were valued and used to create jewelry. Enamel continued its popularity in this era, but in simpler, less flowing lines than Art nouveau examples. A beautiful style that's hard to place in a specific category is Renaissance Revival. While the artistic style could be thought of as Art Nouveau, the style of manufacture fits with Arts & Crafts concepts of workmanship. It's hand-made, completely different from the abundance of machine-made, mass-produced jewelry from the same time period. More examples can be seen on the page Revival Styles Stones commonly found in Arts & Crafts Jewelry: Because these pieces weren't to be mass-produced, Arts & Crafts jewelry was expensive and it, like Art Nouveau styles, soon fell out of fashion. But the geometrical simple styles of Arts & Crafts jewelry hinted at the further streamlining that would be evident the Art Deco period.
The "Roaring Twenties" also called "The Jazz Age", was a time of rapid change. U. S. women finally got the right to vote with passage of the 19th amendment. Prohibition, cocktail parties, wild dances, and new art forms must have seemed strange to many people used to life before the First World War. Fashion reflected the fact that women were more independent than ever before. Dresses were short and straight in new, thin fabrics with dropped waists. Women were creating an uproar - cutting or "bobbing" their hair into short styles, wearing makeup, and smoking in public. Their dresses exposed more skin with sleeveless tops, low-cut necklines, see-through areas, and backs cut "down to there". New lifestyles meant there was now a demand for jeweled cigarette cases, cigarette holders, jeweled handbags, and makeup cases. Old ideas of art and design continued through the Art Deco era but were combined with newer techniques now available through mass production. New stone cuts were devised such as emerald cuts, marquises, and pear shapes. Platinum was used more abundantly. Deco jewelry is often bold and angular - forming geometrical shapes. Wildly colorful pieces were common, but in addition to these, were ones made using just two colors, perhaps black and white. Women again wore multiples of everything; rings, bracelets, necklaces, but in ways that were different from the past. In addition to precious stones, jewelry was made of paste, coral, crystal, and onyx. Sometimes the precious and non-precious stones were used side-by-side to create looks uniquely "Art Deco". Long strands of beads and pendants were worn hanging to the waist. Ropes of pearls or beads could be knotted at the neck and reach to the thigh or worn with the length in back - calling attention to a plunging dress back. Lavalieres were still popular and lovely pendants were being made in precious and costume materials. Bangle bracelets (often worn pushed high up on the arm), and straight-line bracelets (singly or in multiples) were the rage. Again, these can be found as fine jewelry as well as costume pieces. An innovation of the Deco era was the Duette or Double-clip brooch. With these, a variety of looks could be created with one piece of jewelry. They could be worn as a single brooch or taken apart to wear as two pieces. Worn on the lapels of a jacket, a gown's plunging back, a belt, hat - they could be worn in a number of imaginative ways. Duettes can be found both in costume and fine jewelry pieces. Jabot pins, items that are to be threaded through fabric, came into fashion. They?re made to resemble stickpins but have a decorative end piece to affix over the point. They were worn on hats, belts, or suit lapels. The style for earrings was for long drops. These worked well to accent short hair and straight lines of dress. A style typical of the Art Deco era are objects with Pave' set stones. With these, very little of an object's surface is visible, covered as it is in stones, whether precious or fake. Now that women were emancipated, they demanded that their new accessories be properly fashionable. Cigarette holders, compacts, lipstick cases, and evening bags had to be as richly ornamented and were sometimes works of art, in their own right. Many high-end pieces were made in jewel-toned enamels and studded with gems. Less expensive pieces were made of rhodium (pretending to be platinum) and accented with paste or rhinestones. Men accessorized with cufflinks, tie bars and tiepins. While the styles were usually simpler in ornamentation than a similar woman's object, they showed the same artistic style and beauty. Money clips could be made of white gold with simple engraved lines and perhaps, studded with a single cabochon-cut gemstone. Tie bars were starting to replace stickpins. With smoking so popular, a man could have a beautifully made cigar cutter or lighter in his pocket. Costume jewelry in the 1920's and 30's was available in all kinds of material - paste, faux gems, horn, bone, and celluloid, and all were mass-produced. CoCo Chanel and Schiaperelli, two major designers of the era, had a major influence on costume jewelry. Schiaperelli was famous for her outrageous surreal designs in bright colors and she sometimes worked with the artist Salvador Dali. CoCo Chanel made it fashionable to wear obviously fake, oversized pearls. It was during this era that cultured pearls first became available and between this innovation and the acceptance of fakes, the value of natural pearls plummeted. The woman on the street could now sport long ropes of Pearls, a look once available only to the very rich.
Bakelite was a staple for Art Deco costume pieces. It?s an early form of plastic that can be molded and carved. All sorts of jewelry can be found; some pseudo-serious, some very whimsical - like necklaces of fruit or cartoon-like brooches. A renewed interest in ancient Egyptian designs was influenced by the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamen in 1922. The tomb was more intact than any previously discovered and contained fabulous items including jewelry worn by the boy-king, himself. The stories of a mummy's curse added to the mystique. As in Victorian times, designs of sphinxes, cobras, winged goddesses, pharaohs, and scarabs were wildly popular in fine and costume jewelry. Platinum and white gold was used extensively in fine jewelry. In costume jewelry, Rhodium plating was used instead of these expensive metals and is easy to spot since it lacks the warmth and patina of the precious metals and has a "harder" look. It's difficult to find pieces that don't show wear. Motifs Common in Art Deco Jewelry: Stones & Metals Commonly Found in Art Deco Fine Jewelry: ...... In Costume Jewelry World War II was the beginning of the end of Art Deco style. Life seemed precarious as invasions and bombings blanketed news broadcasts. Luxurious fabrics and precious metals were hard to come by in a world of shortages, rationing, and fear. |
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Jewelry (or jewellery, in the European
spelling) has been worn by the earliest civilizations.
Even those ancient bodies found frozen or entombed, all
are found with various types of jewelry - amulets, bracelets,
earrings, etc.
As in every era of history, fashion styles influence what
and how jewelry is worn. Ancient Greece and it's motifs
became fashionable in the late 1700's and early 1800's.
Copying these styles, ladies wore jeweled bands in the
hair, high on the arm, and even on calves, thighs, and
toes. To duplicate ancient fashions, gowns were made in
soft, draped fabrics, cut low at the bosom, sometimes with
splits up the sides - to the knee or thigh. Sandals were
worn with legs left bare or covered in flesh-colored tights.
Some daring ladies went so far as to dampen their dresses
making them cling to the body. (A habit that garnered lots
of attention, and inspired many satirical cartoons of the
era. Some women were said to have died from the chill they
caught, victims to fashion).
Before her death in 1901, Queen Victoria was coaxed out
of seclusion to celebrate her Jubilees. The Golden and
Diamond Jubilees were nationwide celebrations of her long
reign and there is still an abundance of jewelry to be
found made to commemorate the events.
Necklace Designs in Vogue Included:
Lasting about a decade, the Edwardian era (named after
England's King Edward VII) was a mix of styles and tastes.
Though the era was a short one, jewelry pieces can easily
be found. New technology allowing faster manufacture of
items reduced costs and made jewelry available to more
people than ever before. If you look at the era dates above,
you'll see that, although beginning in the late Victorian
Era, the styles of Art Nouveau and Arts & Crafts continued
through the reign of Edward.
Jewelry Styles Popular in the Edwardian Era:
ART DECO ERA
Rudolph Valentino, the film star, helped create popular
interest in wristwatches. Made in white gold, yellow gold,
or platinum, they were often accented with pave' diamonds,
triangular cut sapphires, other cuts of gemstones, or enamel.
Pocket watches were on their way out. Woman who didn't
want to wear a wristwatch could opt for a pendant watch,
sometimes beautifully enameled and gem set.| jewelry home • about jewelry • jewelry history • jewelry iInformation • jewelry information links • |