If you’re wondering how to identify Art Deco jewelry (in British spelling jewellery), then this blog is for you. We’re going to go over a few of the key signatures of the Art Deco style so that you know what to look out for when you’re scoping the scene for some Art Deco jewellery.
Shape
Art Deco is known for having very distinctive shapes, so keeping an eye out for that is essential. Geometry is the focus of a lot of Art Deco designs, whether it’s jewelry, fashion, or even architecture.
Simple shapes like squares, triangles, and circles are used in a repeating pattern to become complex and interesting designs. A lot of Art Deco jewelry appears quite complex at first sight, so be sure to take a closer look and see if you can spot any repeating, geometric patterns.
Another key part of the shape of Art Deco jewelry is that it is almost always symmetrical. At the time of its creation, Art Deco represented a return to order after the chaos of the First World War.
Furthermore, it also symbolized a push towards the future, with designs that were in stark contrast to the pre-war designs which often revolved around curved, gently sloping designs that were frequently asymmetrical.
Angular designs are the peak of the Art Deco style. If you have any jewelry that you suspect may be Art Deco in nature, compare its shape to the things mentioned in this section of the blog and see how it shapes up (get it, shapes up, shape, shapes up…sorry).
Metal
After the First World War, the metals that were available for making jewelry improved in quality significantly, and platinum jewelry was of a higher quality than it had been previously.
This meant that the jewelry of the time could be designed to be more intricate and delicate without risking the structural integrity of the piece itself.
It is quite rare for Art Deco jewelry to feature yellow gold, as platinum was overwhelmingly preferred at the time. Cool tones were used throughout the Art Deco period, so bear this in mind when looking for pieces that exemplify this style.
The use of platinum led to daintier designs – as we’ve mentioned – and this can help you when it comes to identifying the jewelry around you.
The use of platinum is the key to being able to make the complicated shapes and designs featured in Art Deco jewelry that we’ve mentioned above.
Art Deco brooches, for example, are often made in simple shapes – like rectangles – that are filled with complex designs that are unique to this period. The intricate designs are made with platinum, rather than through gemstones.
Art Deco jewelry made with platinum is also capable of holding a lot more gemstones than older jewelry that was dependent on yellow, rose, or white gold.
Colors
Although colors were used in Art Deco jewelry, there was definitely a preference for darker colors, with monochromes being very popular.
Onyx, diamond, and platinum are common features in Art Deco jewelry, emphasizing the black and white contrast. When colored gemstones are used in Art Deco jewelry, it’s often gemstones like rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and amethysts.
These gemstones are commonly quite dark in color, or at least they frequently were at the start of the 20th century, with the mining and cutting processes for gemstones being different from the highly-advanced laser-cutting that is utilized today.
Although colors are utilized in some Art Deco jewelry, it is not common for there to be a large range of colors in a single piece. Instead, it is more frequent for diamonds to be placed alongside gemstones of a single color.
Ruby and diamonds, sapphires and diamonds, emeralds and diamonds, etc. There was a type of jewelry that became popular during this time called Tutti Frutti jewelry, where smaller fragments of sapphires, rubies, and emeralds were used together in a single piece of jewelry, being carved with leaf patterns and other shapes on the colored gemstones.
These pieces are stunning, but are not considered to be the same as Art Deco jewelry, which is less colorful overall.
In Summary
These are just a few tips and tricks to help you identify Art Deco jewelry.
Whether you love it or hate it, it’s important to know what styles to look for when you’re placing jewelry in a certain time period. What do you think, is Art Deco jewelry a winner for you?
