Any discussion of style periods must bear in mind that style and design evolve and that there was never an exact cut off point in time where one influence ended and another began.
It’s interesting to consider that all design, jewelry included has always been directly affected by things such as economic well being or hardship, moral values, technological developments and many more.
After you have a look at our table of style periods we invite you to read a brief description of the highlights and main features of interest in those periods.
Georgian (1714 to 1837)
Victorian (1837 to 1900)
Edwardian (1900 to 1915)
Art-Nouveau (1895 to 1910)
Art-Deco (1925 to 1940)
Retro (1940 to 1950)
While the three earliest periods all are named after the British monarch ruling during the years listed, all later periods are named after actual revolutions in art that we will explain in more depth.
The first style period that we’ll discuss is Georgian and to fully understand this one must understand that fundamental to this period was a rebellion against Baroque and Rococo designs of earlier periods. Designers sought to return to or to revive styles of ancient Greece and Rome in their work. Materials and styles during this time varied greatly in large part due to the very long duration of the period.
The Victorian period was the first in many years to embrace rather than reject style influences from earlier periods and did so as well as implementing many new styles unique to the period. Queen Victoria’s own sentiments and romantic view of her world inspired the use of bows, birds and hearts in jewelry from this time.
Also, it’s interesting to note that the discovery of diamonds in South Africa in 1867 made the frequent use of these precious stones possible in articles from this period.
The Art-Nouveau or new art movement represented a huge departure in style from Victorian designs and was characterized by organic forms and flowing lines that appear to be in motion. It is common to see the female form as well as dragonflies and other creatures and many varieties of flowers celebrated in Art-Nouveau jewelry.
Edwardian jewelry contrasted dramatically with Art-Nouveau in that for the most part it was very symmetrical and could best be described as lacy and airy. It is said also, that influences of the industrial revolution are much more apparent in this period than in Victorian items. Unfortunately, the beginning of WWI brought this exquisite period to a very definite end.
The beginning of the Art-Deco period was marked by the “Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs that occurred in Paris France in 1925.Here we saw another dramatic departure from designs of the previous period. Art-Deco jewelry is highly geometric and symmetrical and was created in a variety of different motifs. It is common to see heavy Egyptian and Chinese influences, in these items as well as very streamlined and modern designs.
What we refer to as Retro jewelry is, for the most part consisting of items created in pink and sometimes green gold and incorporating very flowing lines and flamboyant designs that contrast sharply to Art-Deco designs. The use of Citrines and Rubies and of course the use of diamonds is very common in these jewels.
Much beautiful jewelry from the 1950’s and 1960’s we simply refer to as cocktail jewelry as cocktail parties and other similar occasions saw the heavy use of this type of jewelry.
Any jewelry from the 1970’s to the present time will be referred to as contemporary and we will estimate the exact time during which these items were created.
As you can well imagine, any completely thorough discussion of style periods would require volumes and our goal is simply to initiate you and to help you understand these delineations. If you have specific question than please contact us and we will try our best to give you authoritative answers.
