The History of Jewelry

For the women with her own fashion sense. who wants affordable costume jewelry. Unique necklaces, chains, earrings, bracelets, bangles, brooches, dress clips, rhinestones, and more.

3500 Years Ago
Archaeologists have found beautiful pieces of jewelry and in 1922 Howard Carter’s excavation found many gold jewelry artifacts in Tutankhamen tomb. Gold was the preferred metal for jewelry.

3000 Years Ago
Excavations have proven that more than 3000 years ago the Romans were using gems in their jewelry and coin gold which was then set with sapphires, emeralds, and amber as well as other beautiful gems.

2300 Years 
Greeks used gems such as garnets, emeralds, and amethysts, to create pieces shaped like flowers, beetles, flowers, and other creatures. The Greeks also created colored glass stones used by Kings and Queens which they wore on a daily basis.

12th Century
Archaeologists have found lavish gold necklaces, earrings, and bracelets.  To this day Italy still produces some of the highest quality gold jewelry.

13th Century
During the 13th century laws were enacted that banned the wearing of gold jewelry and clothing set with jewels was also banned. The result was the introduction of glass stones or paste stones set in low quality metals what we would call costume jewelry.

Medieval Times
Materials for jewelry was very expensive which didn't seem to affect the wealth who were in a war to be the one to have the most.  The larger the stone the more it was desired with the diamond being the most valuable and most sought after by Kings, Queens, Royalty, Noblemen, and other rich merchants.

18th Century
The 18th century brought great changes for jewelry makers.   By the 1750s a shortage had developed and so paste, rock, and crystal were introduced.

Victorian Times
From the early 1800s until Queen Victoria came to the thrown the jewelry was romantic and focused on European folk art and nationalistic styles. Mass produced jewelry began to hit the markets which would be equivelent to our modern costume jewelry.

Arts and Crafts
By the 1870s the arts and crafts movement was in full swing producing shoddy goods and poor quality machine made products a result of the industrial revolution. The polished stones that were used in Arts and Crafts jewelry gave a medieval, simpler, gentler, tooled hand made look and feel to items.

Art Nouveau
The Arts and crafts movement was followed by the art nouveau movement which began in Paris. Art Nouveau jewelry had sensual curves and romantic lines that invoked dreamy imagery. Winged birds, and flower forms were very popular.

The Roaring 20’s
The roaring 20’s were full of changes. This was a prosperous time with women becoming more assertive and demanding more from their fashion and jewelry resulting in a change in fashion such as the flapper dress and a new revived jewelry often referred to as cocktail jewelry. Jewelry manufacturers such as Lalique, Coco Chanel, and Elsa Shiparelli were quick to design and market high quality glass jewelry that were fun, sporty, and certain to make a woman’s fashion statement!

The 1940s and 1950s
This was a time that was greatly influenced by Hollywood. The influence of movie films and the prominence of film stars set the fashion stage for women’s make-up, hair, wardrobe, and jewelry. Women wanted to look like the glamour girls on the screen and demanded availability of the outfits and jewelry worn. And of course the jewelry manufactures where quick to comply producing both high quality and lower end ewelry.

The 1960’s
The 1960s was an anything goes period with little restriction in fashion or jewelry. Yellow gold, silver, and platinum were all popular choices for setting jewelry. Stones ranged from natural gemstones, to crystals, to paste. Cabochon gemstones were very popular as were organic abstract shapes. In no other period have women had as much freedom and flexibility when choosing their jewelry.

The 1970’s
During the 1970s more women began purchasing their own jewelry rather than waiting to receive jewelry as a gift. Women wanted affordable quality jewelry with a full range of styles in both precious and non precious metals or costume jewelry.

The 1980s
Costume jewelry was stayed “very hot” during the 1980s  where disco, glitz, and glamour were all around  during the day and night.  It was also the time when earrings grew to an unbelievable size, as did other pieces of jewelry.

The 1990s
Dazzling jewelry was dead and tiny diamond studs or pearl studs were the earrings of choice.   Jewelry designs overall were large and chunky, elegant and sophisticated, or stark and minimalist.

21st Century
The 21st century has shown us new designs, new colors, new diamond cuts, new colored pearls, a great mix of new and old and most important of all a terrific amount of costume jewelry which means everyone can look great. 

Fine Jewelry and costume jewelry have a rich and interesting history deeply ingrained with the culture and tradition of the time. Costume jewelry and technology are the wave of the future.

The History of Jewelry