JEWELLERY
Jewellery Through the Ages
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Contemporary Jewellery
Since the 1960s the boundaries of jewellery have been continually redefined. Conventions have been challenged by successive generations of independent jewellers, often educated at art college and immersed in radical ideas.
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Art Deco to the 1950s
Although buffeted by cycles of boom, depression and war, jewellery design between the 1920s and 1950s maintained both innovation and glamour. Dense concentrations of gemstones are characteristic of Art Deco jewellery. From about 1933 gold returned to fashion, partly because it was cheaper than platinum.
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Art Nouveau and the Garland Style 1895-1910
The Art Nouveau style caused a dramatic shift in jewellery design, reaching a peak around 1900 when it triumphed at the Paris International Exhibition. Its followers created sinuous, organic pieces whose undercurrents of eroticism and death were a world away from the floral motifs of earlier generations.
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Arts & Crafts Jewellery
Developing in the last years of the 19th century, the Arts and Crafts movement was based on a profound unease with the industrialised world. Its jewellers rejected the machine-led factory system - by now the source of most affordable pieces - and instead focused on hand-crafting individual jewels.
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19th Century Jewellery
The 19th century was a period of huge industrial and social change, but in jewellery design the focus was often on the past, evoking the glories of ancient Greece and Rome as well as Medieval and Renaissance styles.
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18th Century Jewellery
Diamonds sparkled as never before and came to dominate jewellery design. Frequently mounted in silver to enhance the stone's white colour, magnificent sets of diamond jewels were essential for court life. The largest were worn on the bodice, while smaller ornaments could be scattered over an outfit.
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17th Century Jewellery
By the mid 17th century changes in fashion had introduced new styles of jewellery. While dark fabrics required elaborate gold jewellery, the new softer pastel shades became graceful backdrops for gemstones and pearls.
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Renaissance Jewellery
Renaissance jewels shared the age's passion for splendour. Enamels, often covering both sides of the jewel, became more elaborate and colourful. Advances in cutting techniques increased the glitter of stones.
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Medieval Jewellery 1200–1500
The jewellery worn in medieval Europe reflected an intensely hierarchical and status-conscious society. Royalty and the nobility wore gold, silver and precious gems. Humbler ranks wore base metals, such as copper or pewter.
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Ancient World Jewellery
Jewellery made from shells, stone and bones survives from prehistoric times. In the ancient world the discovery of how to work metals was an important stage in the development of the art of jewellery. Over time, metalworking techniques became more sophisticated and decoration more intricate.