Crafts Jewellery, Art Nouveau Jewellery, Costume Jewellery

The polished stones used in Arts and Crafts jewellery gave jewellery a simpler, hand made look and feel to items. Major players in this movement were Liberty of London and Rene Mackintosh of Glasgow both of whose designs remain famous today...

By 1900, Arts and Crafts was replaced by Art Nouveau, a more ostentatious version started in France.

Art Nouveau jewellery follows curving organic lines of romantic and imaginary dreaminess. The Frenchman Ren Lalique was the master goldsmith of the era of Art Nouveau producing exquisite one off pieces which are still highly valued today.

In the 1900's pearls were fashionable again, but still very expensive. This led to the first production of "cultured" pearls. Real pearls made by placing a small bead into an oyster shell. The bead coated itself with nacre (mother of pearl), creating a pearl. This process was led by Kokichi Mikimoto of Japan.

The next big trend was costume jewellery. In the 1930's Designers Coco Chanel (1883-1971) and Elsa Schiaparelli (1890-1973) encouraged clients to use costume jewellery and to mix it with genuine gem pieces they already owned. Both designers offered imagination and fun and both often sported fabulous fakes.

By the 1940s and 1950s American culture dominated Europe. Hollywood set the fashion. People wanted to look like their screen idols. With metals rationed throughout the 1940's fine jewellery production ground to a halt, and the costume jewellery which was flourishing in America, became seen as a real alternative to fine jewellery.

The best crystals used in costume jewellery are the first grade crystals from Austrian firm Swarovski. Jewellery including Swarovski crystals are now sold by Swarovski themselves. and bought by jewellers worldwide to be worked into gold and silver jewellery to create a never ending variety of pieces.

About the Author:

Catherine D'Arcy is the founder of Corazon Latino, an online retailer specializing in handmade silver jewellery. To see their exclusive range of designs, visit Corazon Latino

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