Twentieth Century Jewelry

" ... the art and history of jewelry from the turn-of-the-century Art Nouveau to the International Style of the Eighties. Cartlidge has selected premier examples of jewelry created by over 200 artists and artisans, from Lalique and Fouquet to de Patta and Fisch, to best reflect the customs, sociopolitical structure, and traditions of several generations. Included are detailed descriptions of each of the pieces, along with their aesthetic and historical significance. The volume concludes with a brief section of artists' biographies."--LJ.

“Worthwhile, both for the sumptuous jewelry and for the stunning lifestyle photographs.” —Society of Jewelry Historians For many centuries, collecting precious jewels was the province of kings and queens, emperors, and maharajas. But in the aftermath of the First World War, royal gems passed into the hands of a different kind of elite that included celebrities and a coterie that reveled in a nouveau riche whirl. Changes in fashion and the rise of Art Deco style led them to reset pieces or commission exquisite contemporary designs. Authors Stefano Papi and Alexandra Rhodes explore this dazzling era via profiles of eleven glamorous women who built up astonishing jewelry collections in the mid-twentieth century. This revised and updated edition includes two new chapters that explore the lives and jewels of Ganna Walska and Hélene Rochas. The authors reveal the remarkable stories behind the jewels and their collectors. Not only do they bring to life the worlds in which these women moved, but they also describe the gems in detail and chronicle the work of the leading jewelers of the day, including Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Harry Winston. The book is illustrated with gorgeous close-up photography of the jewels as well as drawings of the original designs, and includes portraits of the collectors by Beaton, Horst, and other leading photographers of the time.

Spectacularly beautiful, this authoritative book presents jewelry designs of this century. With almost two hundred full-color photographs specially commissioned for this book and archival pictures of pieces that have disappeared into private collections, the volume features the finest artworks in precious metals and jewels from collections around the world, including creations by Lalique, Cartier, Boucheron, Bulgari, Tiffany, and David Webb. The fascinating text surveys the glittering world of gems with an illustrated introductory essay investigating the development of jewelry design at the end of the 1800s, and the shift from Victorian and Art Nouveau works to pieces stamped with the personality and vision of a single designer. The next chapter thoroughly examines the successive revolutions in style of the twentieth century. The balance of the book is a cornucopia of photographs portraying pieces from the beginning of the century through the 1960s: the grand era of commissions and patrons. Here you will find the Duchess of Windsor's famous necklace of diamonds and rubies as well as a fabulous pin in the shape of a World War II tank, and a veritable menagerie of diamond-studded elephants, enameled tigers, and jade dragons. This thorough history is a dazzling jewelbox of a book.

Discusses the specific ways in which jewelry fashions reflected the socio-political changes of the last century, citing such periods as the affluent 1920s, the war years, and the technological advances that enabled new design innovations.

- Brings together in one volume identification and dating of jewelry made in the last 200 years - Almost 1,000 superb color illustrations to help facilitate identification and understanding - Written in straightforward, non-technical English - A standard work of reference Understanding Jewellery is a comprehensive guide to 19th and 20th Century jewelry. From the methods used to identify and date pieces, to the factors that can affect their value, this volume contains an abundance of expertise relating to precious stones and metals. With almost 1000 magnificent color illustrations accompanied by straightforward but thorough explanations, this publication offers a richer and more accessible reading experience than traditional text-dominated books. Including introductions to precious and semi-precious stones, and details of the stylistic developments of jewelry over the last 200 years, this volume is a standard work of reference and an invaluable tool for collectors and dealers alike. "... a delightful and presentation worthy coffee table book, Understanding Jewellery also, in the truest sense, serves as an inviting educational tool with exhaustive encyclopedic explanations of jewelry starting in the late 18th century to the present." - New York Journal of Books

Here, in more than 1,500 full-color, specially drawn illustrations, is the most comprehensive and detailed history and sourcebook of twentieth-century jewelry ever published.

Aiming to spotlight areas of collectability—mainly from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries—which are available to enthusiasts today, this is an important study of both well-known and forgotten jewelry fashions and trends. Each chapter—there are 22 in this second edition—concentrates on a specific topic, but there is a comprehensive cross-referencing to other chapters. Almost every item shown has been on the market in recent years. No other jewelry book reflects the antique jewelry market or collectors’ enthusiasms in quite the same way. Among the types of jewelry covered are diamond brooches, coral 19th-century gold work, piqué, silver jewels, cameos and intaglios, mosaics, Edwardian pendants, and unusual materials. "Theme" jewelry is another area described with an amazing variety of representations of animals or flowers, as well as Victorian Scottish jewelry and 19th-century archaeological revival jewels inspired by the goldwork of the Greeks, Etruscans, or ancient Egyptians. The work of individual artist-jewelers, who played such an important part in the Art Nouveau and Art Deco movements, is documented, along with the glamorous, highly sought after jewels created by the great jewel houses like Cartier, Tiffany, Falize, and Van Cleef & Arpels. Finally the important "movements"—Arts and Crafts; Art Nouveau, including Liberty’s huge output; and Art Deco—are assessed. Newly added is a chapter on Retro Modern—the cocktail jewelry for the 1940s—the best of which has become eminently collectable.