The dawning of The Age of Aquarius saw the rising of the Berlin Wall, the assassinations of President Kennedy and Martin Luther King, the massacre of My Lai, and IRA terrorism in Northern Island. Let the sun shine in, indeed. The laser is invented. Telstar, the first telecommunication satellite, goes up. Yuri Gagarin is the world’s first astronaut. Cable TV, the first heart transplant, Valium and the VCR rise on the horizon. The CIA cons America into the Vietnam War. The Beatles become the bards and troubadours of the age, not to mention its most telling voice. Free Love, drugs, Hippies, student riots, psychedelics and war protests become the daily diet. Someone brings up the fact that smoking may be dangerous.

The Do-Your-Own-Thing credo of the 60s transformed the world of jewelry design by exponentially exploding the factor of individualism far beyond the parameters set in the 50s. Creativity expanded like matter from the Big Bang and filled the jewelry universe with legions of creative artisans marching to the beat of their own drums. The major difference was that these artisans not only could design their own jewelry, but had the talents and expertise to manufacture and market it as well. Experimentation with shape, form and texture was rampant. Individual craftspeople, men and women alike, were encouraged to pour energy into their own visionary and nonrepresentational pieces. As an interesting sidebar, this liberation of creative energy encouraged consumers to unfetter their own individual tastes from whatever vestigial conventions bound them, and express themselves freely.

And those consumers were out in droves. New money and new crime hit the streets at the same time. The good jewelry was kept in the vault and the fun jewelry was worn in the open. As funky as the Carnaby Street clothing that helped inspire it, the jewelry of the times was totally off-the-wall. Fashion became a hip, witty, animated cartoon, all fun and fancy, with conventions about daytime and eveningwear summarily tossed out the window. Leading this Mardi Gras were cheap materials, neon colors, Mother Nature stylized into abstract patterns, cabochons in textured mounts, and animal motifs studded with gems. Brooches were done as garlands, leaves and flowers. Gold that was chiseled, reeded, hammered, corded, plaited or twisted made the scene. The great design houses got the message and responded accordingly. Wild animals, spiky fish, flowers and leaves, starbursts, explosions, flaming stars, cascades of large and voluminous gemstones in jagged clusters all replaced the soft round curves of the Fifties.

Large gemstones no longer dominated, but became subordinate to the designs that supported them. The new freedom sent traditional taste and fashion packing. The heavy styles of the 40s and the hipster styles of the 50s morphed into a multitude of textures, forms and materials. However, diamonds were still numero uno, and the balanced asymmetrical look of the period was helped by brilliant-, pear- and marquise- cut stones. The day had no lack of rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and garnets. Turquoise crashed the party of expensive gems and gained wide popularity. Colored stone beads took their place among all the gold, diamonds and precious stones. India’s influence on design was starting to be felt in a big way. Chromatic psychedelics dominated color schemes. Jewelry was worn with abandonment and in abundance. Tiaras were out and parures of matching jewels lost favor, but demi-parures of selective pieces were still worn. Consumer creativity mixed and matched the lines of all the major designers.

Earrings were wild and wonderful, precisely because they did not take themselves all that seriously. Abstract, asymmetrical and whimsical, they were done in every color, texture, shape and material. The market saw them in gold, diamonds and seashells. They were rounded, domed or buttoned, decorated in mabé and baroque pearls, cabochon corals and turquoises, or in an extravagance of clustered and cascading gems. Gold was textured, plaited, woven and corded.

Chokers, bibs and short necklaces in general were the public’s whim. Spiky, abstracted hanging pendants of pear-shaped diamonds, agate, crystal aggregates or baroque pearls usually adorned them. They also displayed marquise-cut diamonds and colored stones as stylized leaves or flower heads. Other necklaces had abstract pendants of textured gold and diamonds, or crystals encaged in gold work, suspended from ribbons. The look was dynamic, jagged, broken, and layered, with plenty of depth and volume. Rubies, sapphires and emeralds consorted with diamonds. Colored beads were twisted around gold beads. Rivières of marquise-cut diamonds were set vertically to each other.

Bracelets were done as flexible, gem-set bands or rigid bangles, randomly studded with diamonds of various cuts, or with wavy bands of diamonds. Contrast was a big statement. Entwined or plaited ribbons of gemstones in different hues became big as accents. It was not uncommon to see course-set baguette diamonds entwined with a line of cushion, pear-, or marquise-cut colored stones. Another big draw were brightly enameled animal bangles set with cabochon-cut or faceted precious and semi-precious stones.

Solitaire rings lost ground to the three-dimensional rings of clustered stones. The outstanding look of the time was a large central stone raised above a cluster of other gems that flocked under it in a splintered effect. Pear- and marquise-cut gems were usually employed for the look. Meanwhile, cabochon-cut gems were encaged in gold work or surrounded by small diamonds. Textures duplicated effects from nature, like moonlight on the water. Natural landscapes, in effect, were being done in gems and metals. The Boule ring also gained favor, while ballerina mounts for diamonds were seen everywhere.

The three-ring circus revelry that defined the decade naturally fell apart. The lunatic clothes, the loony-tune mores, the grandiose adolescent rebellion, the entire bacchanalian abandonment of the 60s ended when the oil taps in the Middle East were turned off, ushering in the recession of the early 70s and, inevitably, Childhood’s End.

The first color TV transmissions have a more lasting effect on the American memory than the Korean War. George Jorgenson’s sex-change operation gives comedians enough material to last for months. REM sleep and the double Helix of the DNA are discovered. Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin make the world a little safer for kids when they invent the polio vaccine. Artificial Intelligence and Disneyland are born in the same year. South Vietnam refuses to unify with North Vietnam….uh, oh. The pill is invented, giving women control over their bodies. The Soviet Union wakes America up to the space race when it launches Spuntnik. Mary Leakey finds a 1.8 million year old human skeleton, proving that we’ve come a long way, baby. Elvis and Rock ‘n’ Roll lead teenagers down the merry road to Hell, at least according to their parents. Reddi-Whip, Coffee-Mate, Swanson’s frozen TV dinners, M&Ms and McDonalds assault the American palette. Peanuts and Barbie make their debut. Brylcream, Mad Magazine and Silly Putty share the same decade, which is wonderful to contemplate. Ed Sullivan becomes our guru. TV bores into the American brain while Hula Hoops reduce the American waistline. Cadillac tailfins are profligate and magnificent.

The Fifties, like June, were busting out all over. Privation, denial and discipline were past. It was time to play, time to indulge. The economic and industrial growth of the post-war years spurred the determination to rebuild after the conflict, and led to the buoyant spirit of the decade. Television connected the world, the rescinded border restrictions encouraged travel, and cars meant mobility. The comfortable middle class and the newly rich were looking for jewelry that kept pace with the tempo of the times. They wanted color, they wanted vibrancy, they wanted energy and originality. Creativity and individuality were the catchwords of the period and took firm hold.

Design of the time favored the free, light, mobile, simple, essential, and functional. This freewheeling temper expressed itself in its willingness, among other things, to experiment with various design styles. The United States led the fashion, while the Italians put their own stylish spin on things and in the meantime stimulated the growth of Italian mass-produced jewelry. In France, Chanel reopened and brought out the two-piece suit, properly worn with gold jewelry or strings of pearls. Dior and other Parisian designers created the feminine woman of the times, giving her a small waist, rounded shoulders, puffed sleeves, a heart-shaped neckline and fancy hair. Opulence found its way back into clothing as well as into jewels. Even tiaras had returned. Celebration was in the air.

Rules still applied, but they were friendly. Daytime wear suggested simple gold bracelets and necklaces done in tubular chains or corded wires, with fringes, pleated motifs and woven patterns in gold predominating. Eveningwear was elaborate, if not spectacular. Parures of diamonds and colored precious stones graced women of fashion everywhere, while platinum and white gold were the settings for garlands of brilliant-cut, pear-shaped, marquise- and baguette-cut diamonds. Cultured pearls made a comeback in a big way, now being worn in graduated double and triple rows. Turquoises, multicolored citrines, topazes and coral were the leaders in semi-precious stones. The precious stones of note were emeralds, rubies and sapphires. These were often used in conjunction with the undisputed star of the decade, diamonds. As motifs, all sorts of flora and fauna were universally popular, especially in brooches. Mammal, fish and bird designs were the big sellers, while the major motifs remained flowers and leaves. The ribbon and bow motif of the 50s survived, but in lighter versions, along with volutes, helixes, spirals and turbans. Bejeweled clips and brooches decorated the elaborate hairstyles that complemented the opulent evening gowns of the Fifties. Tiaras were reincarnated as inverted necklaces set on stiff metallic structures fashioned in swags, florals and leaves. The diverse hairstyles of the period also allowed both for long pendant earrings and blunt little ear clips. Gold was big for earrings. Gold Creole earrings and boules of gold studded with gemstones adorned many an ear. Day wear had short earrings done as leaves, scrolls, turbans, spirals, clusters, helixes and flower heads set with diamonds. The same motifs applied for eveningwear, only redone sumptuously in diamonds and lavish precious gemstones. Pearls were seen either in solo drops or as enhancements for other gems.

Women wore necklaces with the casual regularity that men wore hats. Appropriate for both day and eveningwear, necklaces were short, often chokers, and fashioned in swags and garlands of plain or corded wire. Flat mesh ribbon necklaces were done in plaited wire or wire twisted to form slim torsades decorated with diamonds and colored stones. Also seen were bib necklaces with pointed or rounded ornaments of articulated gold linking. Either that, or elaborate corded wireworks studded with gems. Often the design tended to a row of lancolated leaves or dart-shaped motifs graduated in size from the center. Decorating the sides of necklaces, and detachable for use as brooches or clips, were shell, spirals, turbans and bows in fretted gold. These also found their way onto diamond bands worn for evening. The motif of draped diamonds, tied in the center or on the side in informal knots, and even decorated with tassels and cascades of gemstones, abounded. Torsades of small pearls were decorated with gemstones or with coral. Ropes of pearls were done in graduated rows. Torsades of gemstones, or entwined ribbons of diamonds and gemstones were popular. These were, on many occasions, decorated with tassels, sprays, clusters, cornucopias and cascades of more diamonds and colored stones.

Clips were still sported in the Fifties by fashionable women, but brooches had an absolute heyday. Gold embellished with gemstones took the shapes of animals, flowers and leaves. Wildly exotic flowers were set in gold and elaborately decorated with diamonds and gems. Ribbons and bows were entwined with leaves, ferns and feathers crafted from diamonds and precious stones. In this jaunty atmosphere naturalism and abstraction came together in a combustion of wonderful designs. Animals were much beloved, with cute and cuddly ones worn for daytime, and noble, proud ones displayed for evening.

Bangles were big. Literally. Gold hoops holding charms were worn during the day. Also suitable for day were wider bangles of corded wire with bombé-shaped fronts of clustered gems. Strings of coral, turquoise and semiprecious beads were used in the same way, as were bands of five or more rows of pearls secured with a flower head clasp. The same designs and motifs prevailed in the evening, but with larger three-dimensional designs using costlier gems and metals. The more expensive tickets were done in naturalism rather than abstraction, usually taking the form of wild and exotic animals. Also predominating were swags, scrolls, flower heads, fans, turbans, baguette- or circular-cut stones.

The jeweled wristwatch found its way into almost every woman’s trousseau. They were worn on the wrist during the day and over the evening glove at night. Their bracelets were done in gold mesh or twisted wire. Their small circular dials were sometimes concealed by jeweled hinged covers in the shape of a dome, turban, scroll, flower head or rosette. If the dials were not covered, they were decorated usually in borders of gold, precious stones and diamonds.

Massive rings with curved and rounded forms negated the angularity of the previous decade. Though huge, they did away with wide metallic surfaces, often set instead with a delicate reticulation encaging the stones. For instance, large bombé bezels often appeared as either stones or gold wires. Turban shapes were popular, embellished with gems or a larger, central stone. Variations on that shape were scrolls, helixes and volutes. The truncated conical bezel of gold wire was quite the thing, as were the claw-foot settings for large precious stones set between scrolled diamond shoulders. The Crossover Ring never went out of fashion, and was presented in the shape of elaborate scrolled leaf motifs or volutes in gold and gemstones. Another consistent seller was the Cluster Ring, crafted with pearls or colored stones bordered with diamonds or flower heads.

For most who are old enough to remember them, the Fifties were surrealism personified. From Elvis to Eisenhower, it was the reeling roller coaster that led to the magic carpet ride of the Sixties.

Say hello to nuclear fission, the computer, the microwave oven, the Xerox copier and the Polaroid. The United Nations is born, Israel is reborn, and Gandhi is assassinated. LSD is discovered and the French involve themselves in Vietnam, two events that will reshape the America psyche in about 25 years. Blood transfusions are introduced and Pan Am announces the first round-the-world flight. World War II ends, Germany is divided, India and Pakistan make war, not love. Mao seizes power in China. All is not bleak, though. The Great Depression is finally over.

Paris, as always, is the catalyst. The 1937 International Exhibition of Arts and Techniques in Modern Life takes Art Deco’s geometrics and floral stylizations and gives them a dramatic, sculptural twist that leads to a new movement in jewelry design. As with WWI, WWII pulled rank and co-opted the world’s platinum supplies, leaving designers to their own devices. Designers rose to the occasion, as expected. Suddenly there appeared assertive, sculptured pieces using rose, white and green gold in conjunction with yellow gold. The new, three-dimensional look took life in scrolls and raised domes. Rubies and sapphires were accented with the muted colors of citrine, tourmaline, amethyst and aquamarine, which were around in abundance. The motifs of the movement included ballerinas, bows, large link chains, and rings with fantastically scrolled shanks.

Nothing spurs ingenuity so much as a good war. Faced with destruction, privation and hardship, people adapt to survive. Paradoxically, adverse situations even cause them to thrive. The Retro movement in jewelry was just such a case of adaptability leading to triumph. In the same way that Art Deco was Art’s reproach to the obscenity of World War I, Retro was its retort to the waste of World War II.

French house Van Cleef & Arpels, exhibiting their fine jewels at the 1939 World’s Fair, opted to keep them in the U.S. at the outbreak of the war. U.S. designers were greatly influenced by what they saw, including bracelets with ribbons of hexagonal lines, centered on flowery clusters of fine gemstones fastened with heavy clasps containing gems set en suite with the band. In Paris, the house of Cartier responded to the German defeat of France in apt fashion. It showed its unbowed spirit by creating its fanciful animalier style. Animal figures in gold, studded with gems and enhanced by shining enamel, reaffirmed the power of joy and beauty in the face of the Nazi occupation. In particular, its Bird in the Cage and Freed Bird jewelry items were done as a slap in the face to the Vichy regime.

Retro rose as Deco fell. Deco’s one-dimensional flatness became Retro’s chunky, sculptured three-dimensionality. There were raised rectangles, domes, baroque scrolls and gemstone bands. Gold and gems were thus consolidated for easier transport during dangerous times. Because the war effort cut off supplies, jewelry manufacturers used what gems and metals were in stock. Sprays and bunches of diamonds were bound loosely with flowing scrolls, plaques, twists and spirals of diamond baguettes. The Spanish Crown Jewels became a casualty of war, though others used this to their advantage. The jewels were broken up and their stones put on market. American dealers bought many of them and had the old-fashioned mine cuts redone in modern cuts, employing the talents of those European cutters who had fled the war overseas.

One of the few nice things about a war is that it ends. The growing, upper-middle class of the post-war period reveled in its new prosperity. After years of deprivation it was hungry for opulence. It longed to strut its stuff, and did. A remarkably ostentatious use of gemstones marked the period, and for good reason. While mining in South America for electronic-grade mica, feldspar, quartz and lithium minerals to fuel the needs of war, the powers that be inadvertently uncovered hundreds of gemstone mines in Brazil. Eureka is too small a word for what followed. A cornucopia of gems poured out of the mines of South America, including citrine, topaz, kunzite, chrysoberyl, aquamarine and amethyst. Tourmaline and rubellite were discovered in vast quantities. Rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and turquoises became the favorites of the period, but the unchallenged star of the day was peridot, which found its way into numerous modern pieces of the time. Faceted gems retained their popularity, but there was concurrently a big revival of interest in beads and cabochons. All of these were popular when mounted in independent prong settings that made a smoothly continuous band, or jumbled together in a bouquet of color. The new gold alloys mixed with copper and silver turned out lovely new shades of gold in pink, green, and white as well as in the accustomed yellow.

Though created from the crisis of war, Retro did not immediately pass with the conflict. It hung on a few years. Many interpreted this period as a mere transition between Art Deco and the styles of the 1950s, but it took François Curiel to realize what had been afoot. Curiel, the head of Christie’s jewelry department in New York, first categorized this movement in the 1970s. He saw the pattern that those living through it had been close enough to miss. To make it easier for his customers to approach the jewelry of that period he gave it the label, Retro. Soon, valuable and expensive pieces of the period were showing up at prestigious auction houses. Retro, to be sure, was a genuine movement. It had a nice run until shortly after the war, and then passed its crown to the glitzy Fifties.

The Art Deco movement began before WWI, picked up speed right after, and barreled through history until WWII brought it to a screeching halt. It saw Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini, the rise of Communism, and China’s imperial dynasty overthrown by a Republic. Machu Picchu is discovered, so is King Tut, and the Panama Canal is opened. Cellophane, penicillin, latex and nylon make the scene. Television, radar, the ballpoint pen, helicopters and the parking meter take their first bow. Rockets, antibiotics and the great Stock Market Crash change the world. Pluto is discovered, the planet not the dog, and the newly found galaxy of Andromeda steals some thunder from the Milky Way. Talking pictures are invented and the filmed version of Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind becomes state-of-the-art. Germany decides upon a Final Solution, and the civilized world temporarily comes to an end.

Art Deco began with a rejection of Victorian values. When Serge Diaghilev presented Nijinksy and the Ballet Russe in the 1909 production of Scheherezade, the bold and exotic colors, so distinctly Oriental, with their shocking reds paired with blacks, and their cool blues coupled with vibrant greens galvanized the public imagination. Extraordinary artists like Matisse and Picasso were coaxed into creating sets for the theater, and through their efforts exposed the public to Expressionism, Futurism and Cubism. The Egyptian rage took off with the discovery of King Tut’s tomb, while Jazz and Josephine Baker made African Art and everything Negro gorgeously exciting and taboo. The Exposition of Decorative Arts and Modern Manufacturers in 1925 Paris gave the movement its name; the grudging alliance between art and industry began, with the mutual challenge of producing quality designs that could be mass-produced. The partnership succeeded beyond everyone’s wildest dreams. Everything from toasters to ocean liners, ceramics, graphics, bookbinding and furniture reflected the new style. Rockefeller Center, temple of Art Deco, survives today to attest to the movement’s great influence. And, of course, there was the jewelry.

Geometry and symmetry marked the look. Bold design and color emphasized it. Yet, the form was still flexible enough to incorporate Egyptian, African, Oriental and Native American motifs into its functional lines. Black and white infused with dramatic color was the style hallmark. That meant the whiteness of diamond or crystal combined with platinum, and black onyx or enameling combined again with diamonds or crystals. Motifs included the colorful fruit salad or the flower basket, the Egyptian scarab, the Ziggurat, lightening bolt, Aztec pyramid, and the sleek greyhound. The early Deco period of 1909-1925, aptly called Art Deco, was graceful and feminine, with formalized floral designs that borrowed the radical chic of Art Nouveau’s free flowing curves and naturalistic motifs; but, it made them more austere with precise curves and ovals, and starkly formalized floral representations. The later Deco period of 1925 to World War II is called Art Moderne, or Modernism. This replaced Art Nouveau’s soft and feminine natural lines, pastel colors and floral excess with vivid colors and color combinations. It took the Edwardian’s Garland design as a starting point and made it austere, geometric, symmetrical and strongly Cubist.

Lustrous platinum still ruled the roost, and the new cubist influence demanded fashionable cuts in the ever-popular diamond, such as baguette, emerald, triangle, shield, pear and marquise. Colored gemstones were in no way avoided, with rubies, sapphires and emeralds maintaining their mystique. Center stones were fine and faceted, while accent stones were done as cabochons, carved leaves, or calibré-cuts.

Pearls cultured on a huge scale grew in popularity and found their way into chokers, long ropes and sautoirs. The carry-over Oriental influence of Art Nouveau was evident in the continued popularity of enameling, especially Cloisonné enameling in red and black. The irrepressible Coco Chanel made it popular and acceptable to wear costume jewelry made of Bakelite plastic, imitation pearls, aluminum, chrome, marcasite, glass and rhinestones. This fun, fake, day jewelry was enjoyed for its own sake. However, when it ceased to be an inside joke, and people started to wear it seriously as an imitation of the real thing, those with taste and discretion shunned it as cheap.

The liberated female of the Roaring 20s became the leading icon of the age. Gone were the sentimental cameos, chatelaines, tiaras and diadems of the past. An emancipated style requires an emancipated look. The plunging necklines of the day called for long pendants, and sautoirs with tassels. Short hair made decorative combs obsolete, but exposed the ears to assertive earrings like long dangles. Short sleeves or entirely sleeveless dresses invited bracelets and bangles, some even worn on the upper arms, and many done in flexible platinum while decorated with diamonds accented by colored gemstones. Popular were the jabot pin, and the double clip brooch worn together or separated, usually on a belt or cloche hat. The wristwatch, long-chained pendant watch, and jewel-encrusted lapel watch all told women how valuable their time was. Then there were these sophisticated new entertainments called cocktail parties, which demanded sophisticated cocktail rings. And, indispensable for the new woman on the move, were compacts, minaudières, cigarette cases and sleek, elegant cigarette holders.

Even though the period glorified the quality of mass-produced articles, the individually handcrafted piece was still the best and most valued. Many of the leading designers tried their hand at it successfully; while the U.S. led in the greatest mass-production of Art Deco, it was Paris where the Deco spirit truly thrived and found its finest artistic fruition. Recent exhibitions have revived an interest in Art Deco. But, like Art Nouveau, its real life ended decades ago. The Great Depression of the 1930s weakened its creative spirit and effectively sapped its will, before World War II killed it entirely. After that, a war-ravaged Europe was too weary to resurrect it, and the spanking-clean middle-class that emerged in America after the great conflict had no time for the movement’s elite nuances. In this brave new world Art Deco hadn’t a chance.

Like a rebellious teenager in love with his own youth, thrilled by fresh experience and driven compulsively to shock his elders, Art Nouveau horrified the Victorians, frightened the Edwardians, and enjoyed itself immensely while doing it.

Art Nouveau’s time in the sun spanned roughly the period from the late 19th to the early 20th century. Some say, from the mid-19th century to World War I. Either way, it co-existed with the Victorians and the Edwardians in an unwanted and often volatile alliance. It vastly influenced Western art, architecture, metalwork, textiles, interior design and, of course, jewelry. Just as the Edwardians were known by their Garland jewelry, the advocates of Art Nouveau reveled in the fanciful, swirling line known as Whiplash, which celebrated the mysteries of nature, the sensual world and the female form. The traditional Victorians found it shameless and depraved. The Edwardian establishment decried it as decadent. Both were right. But then, therein lay the allure of Art Nouveau.

However, the Art Nouveau movement was no less a product of environmental and social pressures than were the Victorian and Edwardian movements. It simply reacted after its own fashion. It didn’t ignore the ramifications of the Industrial Revolution or the pregnant possibilities in science and technology; nor did it remain unmoved by the new archeological finds, the exotic flowers introduced from the East, the revolutionary expressions in all the arts, or the foreshortening of global distance brought on by improved communications and commerce. It simply co-opted the world’s best and revolted against the rest.

While the Edwardians indulged themselves with the costliest of gems and precious metals, the savants of Art Nouveau did more with less, employing inexpensive materials and artful stones. Horn and ivory were stained soft tints and polished, while colorful patinas enhanced metals. Though the movement incorporated diamonds, sapphires, rubies and emeralds into its designs, they were used as secondary accents to the more subtle colors of opals, moonstones, chalcedony, peridot, amethyst, aquamarine, topaz, demantoid garnet, and other gems. Baroque pearls dangled from pendants or brooches to represent pods or petals.

This movement also borrowed to full advantage the Japanese influx of art and artifacts taking England by storm. New or forgotten techniques of enameling included Cloisonné (cells filled with separate colors of enamel), Champlevé (small hollow areas of metal filled with enamel), Plique-À-Jour (gold chambers filled with transparent enamel for a stained glass effect), and Pâte-De-Verre (melted ground glass molded into complex shapes).

Materials and techniques aside, it was the motifs embraced by Art Nouveau that caused all the stir. Human, vegetal and animal forms shape-shifted together in a sensual consummation. Partially clothed women with flowing hair flaunted the new feminine freedom and eroticism. Nature lost her innocence and became a wanton, sinuous, passionate thing, an affirmation of youthful vigor and alarming suggestiveness. From the depths of the subconscious rose mythical and nightmarish dragons, chimeras, griffons, and the monstrous Medusa. Chameleons and serpents slithered across bracelets, scarabs of Egyptian mystical lore crawled over rings, sea horses and sea creatures gamboled off of pendants, dragonflies, butterflies, grasshoppers, bees and wasps fluttered on pins, while all manner of winged creatures from peacocks, swans and swallows to roosters, owls and bats soared from brooches. Fecund nature gave inspiration with her buds, seedpods, blooms and withering blossoms depicting natural cycles and the passing seasons. An expressive palette of verdant greens, delicate pinks, mauves, and lavenders highlighted by rich magentas or purples evoked Spring and Summer, deep reds and oranges mixed with earth tones denoted Autumn, and cool variations of blue and silver represented Winter. Art Nouveau’s philosophy appealed to the mind rather than the purse. Art Nouveau’s inner life disturbed the placid surface of Edwardian and Victorian self-assurance. Nothing gives the wealthy classes more angst than ambiguity. Art Nouveau was their worst nightmare.

Though it went by different names in different countries, the Art Nouveau movement affected most of its neighbors in the same way. In Britain it was known as The Arts and Crafts Movement, or the Liberty Style. It spawned the guilds and societies that promoted Art Nouveau throughout the nation. England, then the most powerful military and economic center of the world, sponged up the best of intellectual thought and drew the cream of the world to its shores. Japanese Art kick-started the movement and the Celtic influence stamped Art Nouveau with its indelible motifs of knots, curving lines and geometric interlacing. Designers like Charles Ashbee promoted the movement’s famous peacock motif; Arthur Lazenbury Liberty translated the esoteric designs into jewelry and became the catalyst for the movement that expanded throughout Europe and across the ocean to America; and William Morris followed the movement with his home furnishings. Unfortunately, staid England could take things only so far, regardless of its sexual subconscious being nudged by the likes of Oscar Wilde and Aubrey Beardsley. In truth, England in the end was too reserved to push the limits of Art Nouveau. That was left to France.

The French elevated the movement to its purest form. In fact, when Siegfried Bing converted his Japanese import shop into one that promulgated this new art, he called it La Maison de L’ArtNouveau, giving the movement the name it is known by today. Gothic, Rococo, and Japanese art styles all influenced the French sensibility. The excesses of Café Society, with its rampant, mind-expanding drug experimentation, probably influenced the movement even more. Not for nothing did jewelry suddenly abound with winged serpents, baleful Medusa and her writhing vipers, or the bizarre mating of animal, insect and human. The exotic Sarah Bernhardt wore these ornate designs on stage, while flamboyant dancers like Loïe Fuller, who employed diaphanous veils in her performances, and Cléo de Mérode, who let her hair flow free while dancing, celebrated the female mystique depicted in Art Nouveau jewelry. The French were then, as they are now, a contradiction. They could extol the beauty and artistry of La Belle Epoch so exalted by Proust, while greedily indulging their baser instincts at the horrific theatricals of the Grand Guignol. They could worship delicacy and taste in every form while club crawling through Montmarte for a glimpse of the sadomasochistic Apache Dance. High French society, as well as the demimonde, knew what it loved. And it loved Art Nouveau.

Rene Lalique was the greatest of the French designers to promote the movement. He used horn to its full advantage and employed exquisite enamel and glass, with moonstones and diamonds for sheen and sparkle. Jeweler Henri Vever and his designers Eugene Grasset and Etienne Tourette employed diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires in profusion for their well-heeled clientele, making famous their combs of horn in organic motifs with plique-à-jour enamels and freshwater pearls. Georges Fouquet employed diamonds and flowing lines, Muca created impossible Byzantium designs with clusters of gem pendants, and Boucheron made sculptured pieces of chased enameled gold set with gems and pâte-de-verre.

In Germany the name was Jugendstil, so-called after the new art magazine Jugend (youth). Two versions of Art Nouveau developed in the Rhineland. One was ruled by the influences of English floral style, French style, Japanese art and naturalism. The other was a softened, geometric style that began as flowery motifs and gave way to an abstract, biomorphic style.

In Spain it was Modernismo, or Modernism, and it was mostly confined to architecture. Through the artistry of master jeweler, Luis Masriera, the winged French nymphs with flowers in their hair and all the other requisite motifs found their way into Spanish decoration, but chastely clothed and reconceived in respect to Spain’s rigorous religious principles.

In Austria, a sect broke from the traditions of the Vienna Academy and formed the Secessionstil movement. The cubic, rectilinear forms of their designs permeated art, architecture, and jewelry. Ultra-stylized flowers and leaves joined by long curving lines, silver and gold-plate set with cabochon agates, malachite and mother-of-pearl, gems with dark enamels or contrasting geometric patterns were not only manifestations of Art Nouveau, but precursors of a coming movement called Art Deco.

In Italy it was Stile Liberty; in Russia the movement manifested itself in the glorious eggs of Peter Carl Fabergé, and the whiplash lines of his bejeweled enamel pieces; in Scandinavia, designer Georg Jensen evoked the streamlined Art Nouveau style with Viking symbols and Nature motifs, creating silverware and jewelry with plump organic shapes accented with amber, garnet, citrine, malachite, moonstone and opal.

In the United States, Tiffany led the vanguard in Art Nouveau. The elder Tiffany sent the store’s gemologist, George Kunz, to travel worldwide and bring back the diamonds and gemstones so dear to the American heart. His son, Louis, traveled abroad to cultivate a taste for Oriental and Moorish art. On the home shores, Julia Munson Sherman developed the techniques for the famous enamels that would later be used in Tiffany’s signature jewelry. All this led to the distinctive spin that the house of Tiffany would put on Art Nouveau. A rival American concern, Marcus and Company, produced Art Nouveau jewelry with vibrant enamel colors and French floral motifs. But it was Chicago that would truly embrace the Arts and Crafts movement of England by incorporating the homegrown motifs of the American Colonies and Native Americans into the sensual style of Art Nouveau. The Chicago artisans used American themes, the floral motifs of France, and the peacock motifs of the English, and combined them with moonstones, amethyst, baroque pearls, aquamarines and opals. Many American manufacturers, including Clara Welles, William Morris, and Marshall Field got into the act, mass-producing silver and jewels in the Nouveau style and creating beautiful and affordable pieces for the working populace.

But, alas, the curtain rang down. While Art Nouveau created a lasting impression in design, and has seen a modified revival of sorts throughout the years, over-commercialism wore the movement out before it finally perished in the Juggernaut of WWI. Like Victorian and Edwardian cultures, the naïve romanticism of the movement could not withstand the ravages of 20th century reality.

The Wright Brothers launch their prototype air machine at Kitty Hawk and the Paris police solve a crime through a new process called Fingerprinting. Einstein lets the world in on his Special Theory of Relativity while Madame Curie discovers radioactivity. Henry Ford mass produces his Model T and Frederick Hopkins raises a banner for preventive medicine with his invention of vitamins. Leo Baekeland introduces the world to plastic, and the long climb to Tupperware begins.

Edward led the country during the last years of his mother’s reign, but when Victoria passed on and Edward assumed the throne, the real Edwardian age took off. England was the dominant global force and greatly influenced the better part of the civilized world. The power elite enjoyed an age of prosperity that they have not seen since. New designs and manufacturing techniques for jewelry proliferated. Platinum, pearls and South African diamonds were combined with profuse extravagance to demonstrate rank and wealth, only emphasizing the splendid pomp of the privileged class.

But this was a different regality than that seen during Victoria’s reign. In an age of railroads, telephones, steamships and steel there was also electricity. Whereas candles and gaslight romanced the ponderously ornate Victorian look, electric lamps demolished it. The Edwardians needed to lighten their act, and did. Silks, satins and pastel colors unfettered the surroundings to let in fresh air even while Edwardian women dumped the bustle in favor of a free, natural line to their clothing and their figures. And the ateliers of the master jewelers created a new fashion called Garland Jewelry, designed specifically to reflect the wealth, status, ease and luxury of the social elite. Say goodbye to Dickensian social consciousness.

Garland Style

Louis Cartier exploited the Garland design, utilizing ideas and details from industry, art and architecture, not to mention the best of Indian, Chinese and Arab cultures. Tiffany, Fabergé, Bourcheron, Chaumet and Lacloche followed his lead, plundering every style from Ancient Greek, Classical Roman, French Baroque and Rococo, Napoleonic and Second Empire styles. Scrolls, feathers, tassels, swags of foliage, garlands of flowers, ribbon ties in flowing bow knots, triumphal laurel wreaths and the classic Greek Key design–all recreated with subtly and taste–ruled jewelry fashion. The monochromatic signature look these designers achieved relied on platinum, diamonds and pearls for its wondrous effect.

Platinum was the metal of choice. Malleable yet strong, clean and white, it could be shaped and engraved, used as a backdrop for precious gems and diamonds, and made to resemble the delicate petit point embroidery worn by fashionable women. The avalanche of diamonds from the South African mines introduced spectacular new cuts like the marquise, baguette, kite, triangle and briolette.

Garland Style

Pearls, once rare, came pouring in from the Persian Gulf, Australia, Ceylon, the Mississippi Valley and Scotland, while the novel black pearl hailed in from Tahiti and Panama. Colored gemstones, plentiful and used as accents for diamonds, arrived from all over the globe. Demantoid garnet, pink topaz, amethyst, sapphire, peridot, ruby, emerald, turquoise, and tourmaline rained down on England.

For a ruling class that saw itself as royalty, the tiara made the crowning accessory. The protocol of age and rank determined who wore one, along with its height and its look. Elaborately adorned with stars, trefoils, flowers, wings, wreaths, olive branches, acanthus leaves, wheat sheaves, shamrocks, thistle heads, roses, daisies, floral garlands and flowing ribbons, the tiaras radiated light from the tresses of a woman’s coiffure like a corona from a halo. The Ballet Russe and its production of Scheherazade were responsible for the popularity of feathered headdresses fashioned from ostrich and bird-of-paradise. Elaborate hairstyles also were home to jeweled combs and crescent brooches.

Fringe necklaces, rivières, dog collar chokers worn with ropes of pearl, sautoirs of seed pearls and jeweled tassels, lavaliere suspended from chains, and round plaque pendants of gems or guilloché-enameled discs decorated the swan-like throats of the aristocratic wives. Brooches and pins, worn in random multiples from the shoulder to the waist, accented the lacy gauze of the feminine bodice. Dangle earrings were the thing, dripping with pearls, diamonds and the ubiquitous garlands. Buckles boned like corsets decorated wide belts both front and back.

Platinum Lace

Rings grew large, domed and massive with ornate settings and gems. Filigree work in platinum made beautiful lacy settings for diamonds. Large settings that are airy and delicate are bold, yet delicate in feeling. Gems set in half hoops, and crossover rings with two fine stones were seen at many a grand party. Rings, like bracelets, were worn in multiples.

Aristocratic women weren’t having all the fun. Their peacock husbands strutted with bejeweled stickpins in their ties and cravats. Edward VII was a dresser, and established a fashion protocol his wealthy male subjects eagerly aped. Cuff links done in colored stones like aquamarine, topaz, garnet, quartz and amethyst were common, their colors often dictated by the color and style of the shirt worn. Pocket watches sported fancy charm, medal and seal attachments to their fobs. Gypsy rings set with diamonds, rubies and sapphires shone on men’s fingers, while seal rings engraved in gold or carved in carnelian, with bloodstones or chalcedonies, displayed one’s family lineage.

The Edwardians also indulged their lavish tastes with gift giving. Hand-engraved cigarette cases done in silver, gold, and guilloché enamel, inset with rose-cut diamonds, cabochon sapphires, rubies or emeralds in garland motifs were high profile. Card cases, scent bottles, fans, picture frames, walking canes, parasol handles, gemstone carvings and jeweled clocks all found their way into people’s hearts. Then, of course, there was Carl Fabergé delighting everyone with his enameled objects, gem carvings, bejeweled animated toys, and those unbelievable eggs.

What rises falls. The majesty of the era had its foundations shaken by the sinking of the Titanic, which resurrected ideas of social consciousness, social caste, morality and mortality. Two years later the horrors of The War to End All Wars drove the final coffin nail into a glorious and ephemeral age. The carefree, joyful confidence of the Edwardians had no defense against the grim realities of the new century.

The 64-year reign of Queen Victoria saw the telegraph, the telephone, and the massacre of General Custer at the Little Big Horn. It witnessed the unification of Italy under Garibaldi and the temporary collapse of Lincoln’s Union during the American Civil War. The Czar of Russia abolishes serfdom, which doesn’t prevent his ruling house and descendents from being wiped out by the Bolsheviks fifty-five years later. Germany becomes unified, leading to the mayhem of WWI in less than two generations. Edison introduces the light bulb, the Lumiere brothers usher in the Cinema, and Marconi makes the world a little smaller with his wireless cable. The secrets of the atom are observed by scientists and the secrets of the mind are penetrated by Freud. Just in time to relieve all this burgeoning pressure, Felix Hoffmann invents the aspirin.

The Early Victorian period is also referred to as the Romantic Period, and with good reason. The new queen was young, vibrant, full of life and madly in love with her consort, Albert. Victoria adored jewelry and wore lots of it. Naturally the court and the nation mirrored their queen’s taste. Gold in every form, sometimes set with enamel and gemstones, was the rage. Fashionably bold cabochons and matching suites of four or more pieces of jewelry enjoyed popularity. For evening wear gold and jewels reigned, but during the day less expensive ivory, tortoise shell, seed pearl, and coral were the appropriate choices. Earrings were long and dangling and bracelets were either flexible or rigid, and often worn in pairs. The belt buckle-style bracelet, in particular, had a great vogue. Necklaces were worn short, with a stone in the center that could be detached and displayed separately as either a brooch or a pendant.

The Victorians had romantic notions about the natural world, no doubt spurred by John Ruskin’s philosophical ideals of beauty and God. Because of it, they adored flora and fauna images depicted in their jewelry. Victoria herself loved the serpent motif, seeing it as a symbol of fidelity and love. Jewelry designs of this period often expressed sentiment. Rings, bracelets, and lockets often contained a link of a loved one’s hair. Pictures and engraved messages personalized jewelry design.

This is the Grand Period. Lush, ornate, opulent and luxurious, this period typified the look that most of us today imagine when we visualize the Victorian era. The Victorians belonged to a conquering, colonizing nation and were vastly satisfied with themselves despite the internal social conflicts fermenting under their eyes. Jewelry became bolder and less ornate, reflecting the rising image of the assertive and independent woman fighting for her rights and earning her own pay. The technique of granulating gems with grains of gold, once done by the ancient Etruscans, became extremely popular and revived interest in the Etruscan period. Nor was this a singular phenomenon. The great archeological discoveries of the era also spurred new and avid interest in the Ancient Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Renaissance cultures, which in turn greatly influenced the ancient and classical motifs reflected in the jewelry designs.

Unfortunately, this time also saw the death of Alfred, and Queen Victoria’s subsequent retirement into an extraordinary term of grief. The queen exiled herself to permanent mourning, wearing black at all times. The court followed her lead, then society in general. Women suddenly discovered that they looked perfectly splendid in black. Jet and black onyx became extremely fashionable, and not just for mourning. The darker nature of the Victorians, mirrored so well in the brooding romances of the Brontë Sisters, the perverse fantasies of Lewis Carroll, and the twisted schizophrenia of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll, emerged during this period.

This is known as the Aesthetic Period, possibly because the country was considering more than its own smug and satisfied reflection in the mirror. After decades of being bludgeoned by Charles Dickens about society’s evils and ills, the British were finally paying attention. Awareness of social injustice, hideous labor conditions and poverty raised national consciousness and sensitivity to the plight of others. Conspicuous consumption in the form of elaborate and ornate jewelry fell out of favor. Women wore less jewelry, and smaller versions of it. Stud earrings were invented. Bar pins with a small motif in the center were considered tasteful.

However, the grandiose impulse didn’t entirely die out. After the discovery of a diamond mine in South Africa in 1867, diamonds became plentiful and less expensive. Their popularity hit the heights. Diamonds were paired with colorless gems like opals, moonstones, and the ever-beloved pearl. Dog collar necklaces were worn high on the throat, composed of several rows of pearls held together with vertical bars of diamonds or other pearls, while separate ropes of pearls hung under them.

Meanwhile, the country was undergoing spectacular advances in technology, communication, and penetrating scholarship. While these were embraced joyfully in the name of progress, their influence was galloping apace and extracting a deep psychological toll on the people. In a country rife with churches and denominations, the English found their belief in God shaken by the politics of Karl Marx, the biology of Charles Darwin, and the ruminations of Thomas Carlyle. Also, let us not forget the dehumanizing effects of the Industrial Revolution on the common man. A reactionary romanticism lashed back. In jewelry, that meant a rejection of the machine-made over the gifts of nature. The results were softer forms, spontaneous lines, and gentle colors like mauves, yellows and tender greens.

George I ascends the throne of England with no idea of the revolutions ahead. Fahrenheit invents his mercury thermometer, which will cause legions of children to squirm for generations to come. Handel’s Messiah has its glorious premier, and Ben Franklin sends up a kite to confront electricity. Diderot begins work on his exhaustive Encyclopedie. A rowdy bunch of New England colonialists in Indian drag scale British merchant ships in Boston Harbor and heave-ho their tea supplies into the briny deep. The steam engine is invented, breaking the first ground for the Industrial Revolution. Uranus is discovered. So is Uranium. The Montgolfier brothers are the first humans to leave the earth in a balloon. Meanwhile, mutiny is in the air. The French revolution erupts the same year that Masters Mate Fletcher Christian wrests authority from Lieutenant William Bligh, and takes command of Her Majesty’s Ship, the Bounty. George Washington is elected the first American president. The Smallpox Vaccine is discovered. Beethoven writes his first symphony, Louisiana is purchased, and the battery is invented. The first photographic image is made.

Despite the rapid progress of history in this period, Georgian jewelry was balanced, symmetrical, regal and elegant. Closed settings covered the backs of stones and most pieces were routinely remounted to keep abreast of current fashions. Larger stones, clusters of gems, and ribbon bow motifs supported by pear-shaped drops were the favored motifs. Necklaces were, for the most part, simple rivières. The ever-popular brooch surfaced in cluster buttons, starbursts, crescents, and flower heads.

However, the human passions of the period also affected the jewelry market. After the French Revolution, jewels stank of the Ancien Regimé and its anti-Republic sentiments. Most jewelry was exported from France by fleeing aristocrats selling it to survive. Other pieces, including the crown jewels, were confiscated and often dismantled. What original jewelry was created during the Revolution tended to commemorate that event and lacked both style and imagination. When the Terror ended and the Directorate took over, France gradually regained its stability. Luxury items resurfaced and the jewelry trade revived.

A new dawn reflected the rebirth of equilibrium among a traumatized people. There rose a Greek revival of sorts, and a love of Roman antiquities that harkened back to former ages of culture and order. Women demanded dresses designed as high-waisted tunics; these were dampened to cling to the feminine body, idealizing it as Greek or Roman statuary. Springtime colors of white, yellow, lilac and pistachio brought back the breath of life after the Reign of Terror’s pall of death. Whatever jewelry was worn enhanced rather than detracted from that imagery. Rings were worn on every finger; simple gold bands decorated wrists, forearms and the upper arms. Long chains of flat geometrical links, often adorned with stylized heart motifs or Greek Key patterns, were worn around the neck, across the shoulder, or crossed on the bosom. Neo-Greek and Roman hairstyles brought in the popularity of pendant earrings cut from thin sheets of gold with two to three gold links of flat geometrical design shaped as lozenges, shields or acanthus leaves.

Napoleon brought back the crown jewels to France and refitted them to reflect the new fashions. Parures of rubies, emeralds, sapphires, pearls and diamonds were worn for state and court occasions. These were decorated with Greek Keys, acanthus leaves, palmettes, formal volutes, laurel leaves, arches and eagles. Cameos and Intaglios from Italy celebrated a great time in the sun. Paris jewelers set them in precious stones and metals, as well as in more affordable shell, putting them in tiaras, necklaces, bracelets and earrings mounted in simple gold collets with seed pearl borders joined by light, delicate gold chains. Despite Paris’s best efforts, the greatest cameos still came out of Italy, signed by such famed designers of the times as Pistrucci and Girometti. Another high fashion item were Roman mosaics done in polychrome opaque glass held within mother-of-pearl, dark blue or black glass frames. Meanwhile, the Napoleonic campaign in Egypt introduced new elements of design into everything. Jeweler brimmed with sphinxes, pyramids, palms and papyrus leaves.

Prussia defied the Napoleonic occupation and a new jewelry style was born. Known as Berlin Iron, these were delicate pieces of jewelry done in neoclassical and floral designs fashioned from iron and lacquered to a glossy black. Patriotic Prussian women were given this jewelry in return for having volunteered their own costly gold and gems to the resistance efforts against Napoleon. This may seem like a raw deal, but Berlin Iron saw quite a vogue. Nor was this was not a singular phenomenon. Cut polished steel and a form of iron pyrite called Marcasite were crafted to look like diamonds. Closed settings with colored foil backing, so long the standard, were gradually losing favor. The new open mounts were letting light through to enhance the natural brilliance of fine gems.

Sometime after 1820 Naturalism returned to waistlines as well as to decorative motifs. Accents were suddenly seen as roses, morning glories, fuchsias, cornflowers, ears of wheat and leaves of countless varieties. There was a short revival of the formal style recast in the modern mold, but it didn’t last long. Because years of war had depleted resources, jewelry designers had to do much with little to make it appear ample. Semi-precious stones were clustered to enhance their richness, while the filigree cannetille style was seen everywhere, with red, yellow and green gold combined for new effects. The designer Edouard Marchant created cuirs, and started a fashion stampede. These were thin gold leaf rolled and cut to resemble leather scrolls engraved with decorative motifs. Painted enamels came out, mounted on gold and embellished with gems and decorative reliefs. Special enameling processes such as Champlevé and guilloché found great favor with the buying public. Joining the craze for mourning jewelry were memorial rings of black enamel closed within gold borders and richly chased with floral motifs. Gem-set aigrettes decorated the hair, necklaces and bracelets abounded, and coral gained such popularity that it was absolutely de rigor for women of fashion to own coral parures.

Tiaras were designed as diamond-set laurel leaves with ruby berries, or wreathes of diamond leaves. There were openwork designs with suspended briolettes, and a Hellenistic version rising to a gable point at the center of the brow and sloping downwards. The Bandeau, a version of the tiara, displayed gem-set clusters or cameos worn on the forehead. Combs had decorated rectangular mounts, often as filigree galleries surmounted by carved coral or amber beads, while Spanish combs came with metal or tortoiseshell prongs and surmounts of gems, cameos, or gold scrollwork. Earrings were made à poissarde, in geometrical patterns set with gems, but mostly as dangling pendants and elegant, gem-encrusted pear shapes. Necklaces were gold chains of cameos, intaglios, and Roman mosaics. They also held gems or seed pearls set in light, delicate gold work. Pendants, usually worn en suite, were mostly seen as Maltese crosses or a cruciform embellished in precious or semi-precious stones.

Bracelets were worn in great numbers and including wide ribbons of gold mesh. Bracelets consisting of a silk ribbon with a gold clasp were called à la Jeannette. Diamond or gemstone link bracelets were done in geometric patterns. Rings were plentiful and worn almost constantly. Most were seen as half hoops set with a single or a double row of gemstones with shanks of soldered gold wires done in leaf designs that splayed out to form shoulders. Gem-set navettes were common, as were large centered gemstones surrounded by clusters of flower head styled gems. Brooches were quite the favored item, done in sunbursts, stars and crescents. Formal and spiky sprays of gems, and simple flower head brooches made up the balance.

Bringing these all together were parures, seen almost everywhere. These were done in precious and semi-precious stones, usually mounted in extremely fine cannetille settings that imitated fine lace enriched with leaf, rosette and burr motifs. Parures were especially popular because fashion dictated that jewelry be worn in abundance. Gems, or at least articles of gold, had to be dripping everywhere and in every form. These included pendants of all shapes, especially cruciforms, necklaces, earrings, rings, bracelets, combs and brooches. Leaves, flowers and scrolls stamped from gold leaf seemed to decorate everything.

Three other jewelry items were ubiquitous during this period and should not be overlooked. Small buckles, generally oblong, round or oval, were worn at the center of a belt or a ribbon and marked the high waistline. While these served no overt function, they were certainly pretty, decorated with motifs in pearl, topaz, amethyst or gold. Men’s tiepins, another lovely indulgence, were cast in enamel, onyx, turquoise, cornelian, and diamonds, or as a combination of gemstones with chased gold fashioned in naturalistic designs such as snakes, birds or animals’ heads. Finally, no gentleman of prestige was without his seal. These items were made in linear designs with domed settings. Simple surmounts were fashioned as a lyre, stirrup, scroll or baluster. Common were family crests or coats-of-arms engraved in bloodstone, carnelian, citrine, quartz, amethyst, smoky quartz, or chalcedony set in gold. For the not so rich it was colored pastes and gilded metal with an engraved motto in place of a coat-of-arms.

The modern world was gathering fast apace, but with the ascension of Victoria to the English throne a tone would be set that would affect not only Britain but also the world. Whatever its faults, or its false sense of stability amidst the turmoil, this period was the last gasp of old world privilege. It would stand to usher the old century out with a modicum of grace before the arrival of that looming monster, the Twentieth Century.

Related Stories:
Georgian design, Victorian design , Edwardian design, Art Nouveau , Retro design, The Fifties,
The Sixties, The Seventies

Browse through our articles on Color, Clarity, Cut and Carat weight to understand the criteria that determine diamond value. Then visit the diamond site in our Learning Center.

Want to know how to get the best diamond for your money? Follow our expert advice in choosing a high-quality diamond for a price that suits your lifestyle.

Go to our Mondera Top Selections to see how cut impacts the beauty of the diamond you select. Our own diamond buyer has judged these diamonds as well cut, and we stand behind our diamonds with a 30-day, no-questions-asked return policy.

Concerned about your diamond’s pedigree? All of Mondera’s loose diamonds are independentlly graded for quality by the Gemological Institute of America Gem Trade Laboratory (GIA) and independently graded for cut by the American Gem Society Gem Laboratory (AGS). These are the most highly respected labs in the field. We send a copy of their original reports with the diamond for your review and, to prevent fraud, we also send the original copies of those reports 30 days after your purchase.

Mondera offers the best quality diamonds at very competitive prices and backs up that quality with official GIA and AGS reports. Don’t compromise quality and value by dealing with an online or offline retailer who claims better value for an inferior product without having the proper GIA and AGS credentials to support those claims.

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Cut is perhaps the most important of the four Cs, so it is important to understand how this quality affects the properties and values of a diamond.

The angles and finish of any diamond are what determine its ability to handle light. A good cut gives a diamond brilliance (the brightness that seems to come from the very heart of the diamond) and scintillation and dispersion (the sparks of color that seem to leap out from the diamond’s surface when the diamond is tilted back and forth).

[Don't confuse Cut with Shape. Cut refers to how well the diamond has been designed and proportioned by the cutter. Shape refers to the general silhouette or outline of the diamond. For more on shape, click here.]

As you can see in the images below, when a diamond is well-cut, the light that enters through the table travels deep into the pavilion. Once light reaches the pavilion, it bounces back and forth on the mirror-like inside walls of the pavilion, multiplying in brightness and intensity before reflecting back out of the diamond through the table and to the observer’s eye.

To understand how the pavilion works to make a diamond so brilliant, think of an empty room that has a single candle as its only source of light. If a mirror is added to the room, the mirror will reflect the image of the candle, creating a second image of the flame and essentially doubling the amount of light in the room. If more mirrors are added to the room, the brightness in the room will increase as the number of reflections of the original candle flame increases. A well-cut diamond works in much the same way as a series of mirrors that multiply the brilliance of the original light source. This light is the brilliance we mentioned, and it’s this effect that makes diamonds so mesmerizing.

However, when a diamond is poorly cut (either too shallow or too deep), the light that enters through the table reaches the pavilion facets at the wrong angle and fails to be intensified and reflected properly; it ‘leaks’ out from the sides or bottom of the diamond rather than reflecting back through the table to the eye. Less light reflected back to the eye means less brilliance.

There is no single measurement or proportion that automatically makes a diamond beautiful. Rather, a great cut depends on the carefully-planned interaction of many proportions to create a diamond’s beauty and ability to handle light.

These are the main proportions that help to determine a diamond’s cut:

Diameter: The length and width of the diamond as measured across the girdle. Primarily, the Diameter gives you an idea of the diamond’s physical size, but it is also used as point of comparison to calculate the diamond’s table percentage, total depth percentage, crown height, and pavilion depth.

Table: This is the large, flat facet at the very top of the diamond. Table size or table percentage describes how large the table is in comparison to the diameter of the entire diamond. For example, a 57% table is a table that is 57% as wide as the diamond’s diameter. Most jewelers tell customers that a small table is best, and many customers do like the look of a small table. However, a small table is not critical to a diamond’s brilliance and, in fact, there are many round diamonds that have tables of 60% or even 62% that achieve a GIA cut grade of Excellent.

Crown: The upper portion of a cut gemstone, above the girdle. The crown height describes how deep the crown is in comparison to the width of the diamond’s diameter. The crown angle describes the angle at which the bezel facets intersect with the table plane. The angles and proportions of the crown create the effect known as dispersion.

Girdle: The narrow rim of a diamond that separates the crown from the pavilion. It is the widest part of the stone. A good girdle should be thick enough to protect the diamond at its vulnerable edges. A girdle that is too thin will leave the diamond vulnerable and also make it difficult to set in jewelry; a girdle that is too thick will needlessly add extra mass and carat weight to the diamond without increasing the diamond’s diameter in millimeters.

Pavilion: The lower portion of the diamond, below the girdle. The pavilion depth describes how deep the pavilion is in comparison to the width of the diamond’s diameter. The pavilion angle describes the angle at which the pavilion main facet plane intersects with the table plane. The angles and proportions of the pavilion help to create the effect known as brilliance.

Depth: The height of a gemstone, from the culet to the table. Total depth or depth percentage describes how deep the diamond is in comparison to the diameter of the entire diamond. The diamond should be deep enough to adequately absorb and reflect light. If the diamond is too shallow, the light will not be effectively reflected; if it is too deep, the diamond may not reflect the light properly and it will also “waste” carat weight in the bottom of the diamond where it cannot be seen instead of contributing that weight to the size or diameter of the diamond.

Culet: The tiny facet on the bottom of the pavilion. When it exists, this is usually the smallest facet on the diamond and it is intended to protect the pointy bottom of the diamond from becoming chipped or damaged. However, some diamonds do not have a culet at all and just end in a point at the bottom of the pavilion. Once a diamond is mounted, the pavilion is protected by the setting, so the presence or absence of a culet will not really affect the appearance or durability of most diamonds.

Everyone knows that the angles and proportions of the crown and pavilion facets determine whether a diamond will be bright and lively or dark and lifeless. So, if a 57% table and 34 degree crown angle look wonderful on one diamond, why isn’t every diamond cut exactly the same way?

The simple answer is that there is no such thing as a ‘one size fits all’ approach to diamond cutting. Each diamond is a one-of-a-kind custom-designed creation.

One reason is that, even with the new research and lab-assigned cut grades that are available, different people have different ideas of what makes a diamond beautiful. For example, some people like very small tables of 53% or 54% and some people like larger tables of 58% or 60%. Sometimes the reason for a particular diamond’s appeal isn’t even something that an individual can articulate; the diamond simply ’speaks’ to that person. Think of a jewelry store with 10 diamonds lined up on the countertop, all weighing .50 carats, all with G VS1 quality, and all certified by AGS as Ideal Cut diamonds. If 10 people were asked to pick their favorite diamond from among this group, it is unlikely that all 10 people would identify the same exact diamond as their unanimous favorite. So, while well-cut diamonds should conform to a certain range of proportions, they don’t all have to be cut to only one exact set of proportions. Beauty can be found in many subtly different forms.

Even if we could get everyone to agree on one exact set of ‘perfect’ measurements, creating the perfect cut is extremely difficult. Rough diamond crystals vary widely in shape, weight, and clarity when they come out of the earth. The ideal natural shape of a rough diamond is an octahedron (an 8-sided crystal that resembles 2 pyramids stuck together base-to-base). In reality, though, most rough diamond crystals have strange irregular shapes and indentations that create limitations on what type of polished gem can be created out of them.

A diamond cutter has to decide what type of diamond shape (for example, round, pear, or emerald cut) the rough crystal is suited for: a long thin crystal isn’t suitable for making a round diamond, but it would be just right for creating a pear or marquise; and a stone that is relatively flat from top to bottom won’t be deep enough to use for a radiant (which depends on a deep pavilion to create the proper brilliance) so it might be used to create a trilliant, which requires more shallow proportions.

The cutter also needs to consider how he can create the largest possible polished diamond out of the existing rough so that he doesn’t waste any of the valuable crystal.

And, as if that wasn’t enough, he must decide which set of proportions and variations in design will allow him to achieve the highest clarity that is possible. Most diamonds contain at least some inclusions, which are spread out randomly throughout the stone. The cutter’s goal is to find a way to eliminate the parts of the rough crystal that contain large inclusions and to design the diamond so that the remaining inclusions will be located off to the edges or in the pavilion of the polished gem, where they are less likely to be visible to the naked eye.

A diamond cutter must consider all of these factors—shape, carat weight, clarity—while still striving to create a diamond that is symmetrical and well-proportioned. Since each rough diamond has its own natural variations, the “solution” to creating a great stone has to be reinvented with every new rough crystal.

All of these considerations mean that there is no hard-and-fast description of the ‘perfect’ cut for a diamond. Because of this, it can be extremely difficult for the average consumer to figure out which diamond is the best choice.

To make the process of choosing a diamond easier, Mondera provides a cut grade for every certified loose diamond in our Diamond Store.

All of the loose diamonds in our Diamond Store are certified by either GIA or AGS. Both of these labs have developed grading systems that help consumers to evaluate round diamonds’ quality of cut. In situations where a GIA or AGS cut grade is not available (that is, if a diamond is fancy shaped, or a round diamond certified by GIA before 2006) Mondera provides a cut grade to allow you to compare the diamonds.

How GIA Grades Cut

GIA’s cut grading system considers 7 qualities: Brightness, Fire, and Scintillation (which are considered the Face-Up Appearance components of the cut grade); Weight Ratio and Durability (the Design components); and Polish and Symmetry (the Craftsmanship components). GIA rates the Cut of diamonds as either Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, or Poor.

How AGS Grades Cut

AGS’s cut grading system considers 11 qualities: Brightness, Dispersion, Leakage, and Contrast (the Light Performance components); Durability, Tilt, Weight Ratio, Girdle Thickness, and Culet Size (the Proportions components), and Polish and Symmetry (the Finish components). AGS rates the Cut of diamonds as either Ideal, Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, or Poor.

How Mondera Grades Cut

If a diamond does not have lab-assigned cut grade from GIA or AGS, Mondera considers 6 qualities in order to determine the appropriate cut grade: Depth Percentage, Table Percentage, Girdle Thickness, Culet Size, Polish, and Symmetry.

Ideal

Diamonds that are described by Mondera as Ideal have a make which is considered fine by anyone in the industry. This cut is intended to maximize brilliance, and the typically smaller table sizes of these diamonds have the added benefit of creating a great deal of dispersion or ‘fire’ as well. Ideal quality diamonds are truly for the person who enjoys knowing that he has one of the finest things that money can buy.

The Ideal cut grade includes diamonds that are graded as AGS Ideal or GIA Excellent, and diamonds that have been assigned an Ideal cut grade by Mondera.

Very Good

Diamonds that are described by Mondera as Very Good are of an excellent make. They reflect most of the light that enters them, creating a good deal of brilliance. With these diamonds, the cutters have chosen to stray slightly from the preferred diamond proportions in order to create a larger diamond. The result is that these diamonds fall slightly outside of some customers’ preferences in terms of, for example, table size or girdle width. In many cases, though, many of the proportions of diamonds in this range will overlap with certain proportions of diamonds in the Ideal range. Generally, the price of these diamonds is slightly below that of Ideal cuts.

The Very Good cut grade includes diamonds that are graded as AGS Excellent, AGS Very Good, or GIA Very Good, and diamonds that have been assigned a Very Good cut grade by Mondera.

Good

Diamonds that are described by Mondera as Good reflect much of the light that enters them. Their proportions fall outside of the preferred range because the cutter has chosen to create the largest possible diamond from the original rough crystal, rather than cutting extra weight off to create a smaller Very Good quality diamond. Diamonds in this range offer an excellent cost-savings to customers who want to stay in a budget without sacrificing quality or beauty.

The Good cut grade includes diamonds that are graded as AGS Good or GIA Good, and diamonds that have been assigned a Good cut grade by Mondera.

Fair and Poor

A diamond that is graded as Fair or Poor will reflect only a small proportion of the light that enters it. Typically these diamonds have been cut to maximize the carat weight over most other considerations. We do not recommend this type of cut. To ensure that our customers enjoy only fine, classic jewelry, Mondera does not offer diamonds that have been graded as Fair or Poor.

Want to know the full story behind Ideal Cut diamonds?
Click here for an in-depth explanation of the mechanics and formulae that led to the Ideal Cut.

Diamonds come in all kinds of shapes, including round, heart and princess cut diamonds. To learn more about different diamond shapes, click here