Egypt The use of gold jewelry can be dated back to Egypt 3000
BC. Gold was the preferred metal for jewelry making during
ancient times.
It was rare, it was easy to work with, and it never tarnished.
Magnificent bracelets, pendants, necklaces, rings, armlets,
earrings, collars, and head ornaments were all produced in
ancient Egypt, the land of the Pharaohs.
In 1922 Howard Carter’s excavations led to the discovery of
Tutankhamun’s tomb and many gold artifacts, all showing the art
work of ancient Egypt.
Greece In ancient Greece, gold beads in the shape of shells,
flowers and beetles were very common. In Northern Greece
beautiful necklaces and earrings have been excavated from
burial.
By 300 BC the Greeks were using gems such as emeralds, garnets,
amethysts and pearls. They also created colored glass stones and
enamel stones. Carved agate cameos and gold filigree work were
widely made.
Italy The Italian Etruscans produced granulated textured gold
work. They made very large, necklaces, bracelets and earrings.
They were also known for producing hollow gold pendants that
were filled with perfume. Even today the Italians are still
known for the quality gold jewelry.
Rome The Romans used 18 and 24 carat gold for their coins.
Coinage gold was readily available so it was popular with
craftsmen for decorative jewelry.
Over 2000 years ago the Romans were using sapphires, emeralds,
garnets, and amber in their jewelry.
Europe During the 13th century the Medieval Sumptuary Laws were
enacted which put a cap on luxurious jewelry and clothing.
The town folk of France, banned from wearing girdles made from
pearls or any other gemstone. They were also banged from wearing
gold or silver. Similar laws existed in England banning artisans
from wearing gold and silver.
These laws show how fine jewelry had spread beyond nobility to
the town folk.
Real and Fake Gems and Pearls For as long as mankind has existed
gems and jewels have been used as token of ones love for
another.
While many pieces of jewelry existed adorned with fine gems and
made from precious metals, there was also some very good fake
jewelry. True gemstones and pearls originated in the east and
they were bought mainly by the Italians.
The Italian merchants then sold the jewelry to the Europeans.
High quality glass imitations were often used and sold with the
intent to deceive.
These high quality glass stones were often used in the Royal
funeral robes and in children’s jewelry.
Valued more than gemstones, were the flawless, round, natural
white pearls. South India provided some of the finest pearls.
The Italians were able to make quality imitation glass gems and
pearls that could only be identified by a gemologist. There is
historical proof that recipes for false pearls existed as far
back as 1300.
White powdered glass was mixed with albumen and snail slime to
produce imitation pearls.
Earrings and Dress Jewelry During the 17th century woman always
wore earrings, whether they were dressed or undressed. It was
very acceptable to wear faux pearls and paste gem earrings
during the day saving fine diamond jewelry and gem jewelry for
evening attire.
Dress ornamentation decreased in size. Sleeves or skirts were
often decorated with matching brooches. During the 16th it was
very fashionable to wear large quantities of pearls. Both
jewelry to clothing accessories were adorned with pearls.
During the 17th century Jaquin of Paris patented a method of
making fake pearls. Hollow blown glass balls were coated with
varnish mixed with iridescent ground fish scales. The hollow
balls were then filled with wax to strengthen them.
This discovery made Paris the main producer of faux pearls for
well over 200 years.
Paste is a compound of glass containing white lead oxide and
potash. Paste jewelry was very common in the later part of the
17th century.
The highest quality and most long lasting paste jewelry was
produced after 1734 by Georges Strass. Paris lead the production
of faux gems [paste] and faux pearls. Just about any kind of
fake gem could be made, including fake opals.
After 1760 the production of fake jewelery spread to London and
to Birmingham. During the industrial revolution steel was
produced in large quantities so it was easily available.
It was ues for setting marcasite and jasper ware cameos. Glass
and Wedgwood porcelain paste cameos were made in English
factories and were also very popular.
The fashion from this era also included ornate shoe buckles of
paste, steel and tin, elaborate paste jewel buttons, as well as
semi precious for day wear.
Empire Jewelry In 1804 Napoleon emerged as Emperor of France,
resulting in a revival of jewelry and fashion as a new court of
pomp.
‘Joailliers’ worked fine jewelry and ‘bijoutiers’ used less
precious materials.
The members of the new French imperial family had the former
French royal family gems re-set into the latest neo-classical
style. The new trends soon found their way to Europe,
particularly England. The main influence for design was the
Greek and Roman.
Parures and Cameos Parures were a matching suite of coordinating
precious gems which could include a necklace, a comb, a tiara, a
diadem, a bandeau, a pair of bracelets, pins, rings, drop
earrings or and cluster stud earrings and possibly a belt clasp.
A full parure consisted of a minimum of four pieces. A demi
parure consisted of three or less pieces. Both Josephine and
Napoleon’s second wife had magnificent parures.
Once Napoleon’s cameo decorated coronation crown was seen,
cameos became the rage. Cameos were carved from hard stone,
conch shells and even from Wedgwood porcelain.
Victorian Jewelry In 1837 when Queen Victoria came to the throne
jewelry was romantic and nationalistic. It focused on European
folk art, which later influenced the Arts and Crafts Movement.
Until mid century most western jewelry came from Europe, with
some jewelry being produced in North America and Australia.
Mass production of mid Victorian jewelry in Birmingham, Germany
and Providence, Rhode Island resulted in lower jewelry
standards. Victorian women rebelled when they saw some the poor
quality of much of this machine made jewelry.
Woman rebelled by wearing no jewelry at all, or buying from the
emerging artist craftsman. Some jewelers like Tiffany recognized
a niche market and began to make fine jewelry of a very high
standard, opening shops in main European cities.
Mourning Jewelry During the Victorian era mourning jewelry was
very fashionable. The initial months of mourning were unadorned
by jewelry of any kind. As the mourning rituals increased,
mourning jewelry developed as a fashion item.
Queen Victorian wore a great deal of jet mourning jewelry after
Prince Albert’s death.
Jet from Whitby, North of England was set into mourning pieces.
All types of material that were black were used and almost all
included a lock of the dead loved one’s hair. Hair was also
plaited, braided or twisted very tightly until it became hard
and thread like.
Arts and Crafts Jewelry During the 1870s the Arts and Crafts
movement evolved as a reaction to mass produced shoddy goods and
inferior machine made products which were a result of the
industrial revolution. William Morris and John Ruskin were both
leaders of the arts and crafts movement in England.
They promoted simple Arts and Crafts of designs based on floral,
primitive or Celtic forms worked as wallpapers, furniture and
jewelry. The polished stones used in Arts and Crafts jewelry
gave a medieval, simpler, gentler, tooled hand made look and
feel to items.
Art Nouveau The Art Nouveau followed the arts and crafts
movement resulting in a new jewelry look. The movement began in
Paris and its influence went throughout the Western world. Art
nouveau jewelry had curves, sinuous organic lines of romantic
and imaginary dreaminess.
It was very ethereal turning into winged bird and flower forms.
French, René Lalique was the master goldsmith of the era of Art
Nouveau producing exquisite one off pieces. Today, the Art
Nouveau style is still admired, sought after, and copied.
Pearls Various combinations of pearl necklaces come in and out
of fashion with regularity so pearls too are a must. Today
pearls are still a wardrobe essential.
Both faux pearls and cultured pearls are very affordable today.
Since the opening of trade with China in the 1990s, many pearls
are imported from China dropping the price to about 1/3 of what
it was prior to China entering the market.
The Japanese have suffered disease in their pearl beds as well
as facing competition and are finding it hard to compete with
China’s prices.
Pearl necklaces and pearl earrings can lift a complexion and
bring light and radiance to the face taking years off a woman
whatever her age. They have been a wardrobe staple for
centuries, and a wedding attire tradition.
Cultured pearls have become very affordable, and faux pearls are
very cheap and the quality can be excellent. Currently Pearls
are a very “hot” fashion statement and with the modern twist of
being interspaced on gold wire or floating on special synthetic
cord they are essential to the millennium look.
Cocktail Jewelry During the 1920s Lalique mass produced and
designed high quality glass jewelry. Fake, or costume jewellery
was sometimes then called cocktail jewelry. Costume or Cocktail
jewelry was greatly influenced by designers such as Coco Chanel,
and Elsa Shiparelli as well as a host of other designers.
These two designers were particularly known for encouraging
clients to mix their fine jewelry and costume jewelry. Both
designers offered imagination and fun and both often sported
fabulous fakes.
In the late 1930s Napier of the USA was at the forefront of
manufacturing fake cocktail jewelry offer glamour and escapism.
Today, Napier still produces excellent contemporary costume
pieces.
Hollywood Influence By the 1940s and 1950s American culture was
very dominant in Europe. The influence of movie films and the
prominence of film stars set the fashion stage for womens
make-up, hair and wardrobe.
People wanted copies of outfits and jewelry worn by the
actresses. Women believed that the glamour of Hollywood would
rub off on them if they dressed and looked like the glamorous
Hollywood actresses.
During the Second World War metals were rationed, halting the
production of fine jewelry. Quality costume jewelry picked up
the now defunct fine jewelry market. Costume jewelry flourished
becoming an acceptable alternative to fine jewelry.
1980′s Television Influences Jewelry During the 1980s with the
evolution of glitzy television soaps such as Dynasty and Dallas,
costume jewelry once again became a “hot” fashion statement.
With over 250 million viewers, it didn’t take long for costume
jewelry to be reborn.
Glitz and sparkle by day was not only acceptable, it became the
norm. Earrings grew to an unbelievable size, as did other pieces
of jewelry. By the 1990s this sparkly dazzling jewelry phenomena
was dead, replace with tiny real diamond studs or a fine stud
pearls.
21st Century Jewelry For the 21st century women believe a mix is
good. Fine jewelry combined with costume jewelry are wardrobe
essentials. The sophisticated women of this century know what
they want from their jewelry and how to wear it to make their
fashion statement.
They recognize that costume jewelry can liven up their wardrobe.
The types and quality of costume jewelry has grown enormously.
Today one can purchase what is classified as fine costume
jewelry which is usually plated at least seven times with 10 22
ct gold.
Swarovski crystal set in gold are common accessories, and cubic
zirconium, man’s imitation diamond, can be purchased for a
fraction of the cost of real diamonds allowing every women to
add diamond styled jewelry to their wardrobe.
Ciro, Adrian Buckley, Butler and Wilson, Swarovski Crystal
Jewelry Napier, Joan Rivers, Joan Collins, Christian Dior,
California Crystal, Property of A Lady and of course Kenneth J
Lane to name just a few continue to produce high quality fashion
jewelry for today’s women.
Costume jewelry can take you from the board room to a night out
of dining and dancing to your most intimate evening. It can make
you look your best for your wedding, or a day at the beach. You
can make Your Fashion Statement! With costume jewelry