Georgian Jewellery Styles & Trends

Jun 21
08:16

2017

Martin Lacy

Martin Lacy

  • Share this article on Facebook
  • Share this article on Twitter
  • Share this article on Linkedin

The Georgian era spanned from 1714 to 1837. Georgian period jewellery used naturalistic themes of leaves, wild birds, frills, feathers and roses as well as flying insects in etched gems. Cameo brooches were once again featured and earrings saw a surge in popularity with semi-precious gemstones embellishing such styles as drop earring. Amethyst, turquoise, garnets together with desirable pearls were firm favourites in Georgian jewellery.

mediaimage
An original item of Georgian jewelry is considered to be one which was made during the reigns of Kings George I to IV. The style and design of jewelry manufactured during this period generally reflect a longing for the "good old days" of the Late Middle Ages together with Renaissance years. Jewelry regularly symbolized earthly motifs and also complicated shapes whilst at the same time showcasing innovative gem stone cuts. It was in this particular period of time that experimental settings and also open facets were made to enable substantially more light reflection in radiant jewels. The essential characteristic of a Georgian setting is a determined effort to increase sparkle together with brightness in a diamond or even gem stone.   Metalwork around the bands of Georgian jewellery was also incredibly intricate. The majority of them are etched with flying insects,Georgian Jewellery Styles & Trends Articles flowers, doves, acorns, wheat stalks, or various other nature themed objects. Beyond these kinds of patterns, the articles were generally etched with personalised designs like the initials of the engaged couple, or even Old English love expressions for instance "I Love My Choyce" or perhaps "Keepe Faith Till Death."   Jewellery emanating from this time frame were commonly made using 22k and 18k gold. At times they were manufactured with 15k and 10k karat gold, yet such a fabrication was not as prevalent. A few were also made with silver or pinchbeck, a popular imitation metal of the day containing 83% copper mineral together with 17% zinc.   Settings or prongs for gems or diamonds were generally manufactured with silver, and frequently silver plated over gold.   Although huge gemstones were generally utilized in rings, these were strictly the reserve of the nobility or royalty, these kinds of Georgian rings are extremely scarce to find now a days. The majority are generally in personal collections or even museums. The most typical diamond Georgian wedding rings to be located currently available are very small cluster styles.   Georgian diamonds and precious gems additionally often incorporated foil-backed settings, which is a tiny bit of foil under the setting of the main gemstone so as to boost brightness as well as fire. Today, antique engagement rings from the age ordinarily do not have this light-reflective aluminum foil as it quite easily wears away as time passes.   The normal materials of the era used to make jewelry included royal blue glass, rock crystal, as well as marcasite (an iron metal sulphide mineral that is quite fragile). Colourful gem stones regularly used included emeralds, rubies, quartz, garnet, topaz, and also black color onyx, and additional materials like coral, river pearls, together with seashells were commonly used as accents.

Article "tagged" as:

Categories: