100 Year Evolution of Jewelry Trends

Jewelry trends now aren’t the same as what they were some years ago, and you can see that by looking at what top fashion models and people using regular jewelry wore in the past. Noticing these changes as they happen is not easy, but we are here to show how much things have changed over the years. 

The Old Guard of Jewelry 

Jewelry is not close to being new to our society, and people have been using it for more than a thousand years. In this article, we will address jewelry trends used at least 100 years ago as the old guard of jewelry. 

Here are some examples of it: 

Victorian (1837-1901) 

Aesthetics is one of the things that people love the most about the Victorian era, and Victorian jewelry showed that. Victorian jewelry started in England, and Queen Victoria often set the standards for it due to how influential she was at the time.  

Therefore, what women wore in the Victorian era depended on what was happening in the Queen’s life, which made it include various styles and fashions. Experts often sub-classify the Victorian era in the Romantic period, the Grand period, and the Aesthetic period. 

When the Romantic period started, jewelry was expensive, and only socialites used it. It wasn’t common to see jewelry on common people’s hands until the Grand period when the Industrial Revolution made it possible for jewelers to access gold without spending a fortune on it.  

Victorian jewelry consisted of flowers, birds, bows, and hearts. Those crafts were all over people’s bodies since they weren’t scared to use all kinds of different pieces. However, when Queen started to mourn for her family members, jewelry trends switched to a much darker tone. Nonetheless, things lighted up again in the Aesthetic period. 

Arts and Crafts (1880-1920)

Unlike Victorian jewelry, the Arts and Crafts movements aimed to offer jewelry pieces to middle-class men and women who couldn’t afford to pay for Victorian jewelry. Therefore, Art and Crafts jewelry is hand-made and doesn’t use expensive precious metals.

This movement wasn’t only for jewelry since artists of all kinds stuck to it. They wanted to go back to medieval art that focused on beauty. Since this happened in the middle of the Industrial Revolution, it was a competitor to Victorian jewelry.

Edwardian (1901-1910)

Like Victorian jewelry is named after Queen Victoria, the Edwardian one comes after King Albert Edward VII. He’s the eldest son of Queen Victoria but was known for being a royal playboy. He liked wearing luxurious jewelry and clothes.

King Edward’s wife Alexandra set the standards for Edwardian jewelry since she loved wearing it to show her wealth and royalty. Therefore, jewelry went back to socialites, and they were the ones who wore Edwardian Jewelry. 

Thanks to that, this type of jewelry was more expensive than Arts and Crafts products. One of the things that made this type of jewelry that expensive was that craftsmen used diamonds and platinum to make it, which were some of the most expensive precious metals at the time. Jewelry trends changed when King Edward died in 1910. 

Faberge Jewelry during the Victorian- Edwardian Eras

During the Victorian and the Edwardian eras one style of jewelry shined mostly in the Russian empire. Real Faberge Eggs are more important to jewelry than many people think since they set a whole new style for future craftsmen to follow when producing new jewelry. The first Original Faberge Egg to come to the world was a gift to the Tsar Alexander III of Russia’s wife from the Tsar himself. 

This egg was embedded with precious metals of all kinds and expensive jewelry pieces. The Tsar’s wife was so pleased by this gift it became a tradition in the following years. 

The House of Faberge made one of them every year, and it made it famous around the world. Therefore, it became the largest jewelry company in the world. Naturally, they also focused on other products and regular jewelry.

The New Guard of Jewelry

Since we addressed jewelry before 1910 as old guard jewelry. The one that came after it is named the new guard of jewelry. 

Retro (1930-1950)

Retro jewelry didn’t last long, and it only focuses on jewelry pieces from the 30s to the 40s. Since its main designers worked during World War II. Although the war’s dark theme influenced jewelers, retro jewelry is mostly colorful and shows a futuristic vision. 

Many gemstones were used for this type of jewelry, which made some of them more expensive than others. However, it’s not even close to how expensive jewelry was in the Victorian or Edwardian era. The middle-class could access it. 

Mid-Century (1950-1965)

As its name suggests, mid-century jewelry is started in 1950 and went on until 1965. Unlike retro jewelry, mid-century focused on elegance and luxury, which gave it a similar purpose to the Edwardian one. 

Naturally, its price went higher and was mostly used by wealthy people, so gemstones were more common on them. Mid-century jewelry features many geometrical figures rather than flowers or bows.

Modern (1965-Present Day)

Modern jewelry is also known as contemporary jewelry, and it’s the one that comes from 1965 and keeps going today. The flagship characteristic of this type of jewelry is the use of precious and non-precious metals. As well as any other materials craftsmen want to use to enhance beauty. 

Modern jewelry spread to the world and adopted different styles depending on where it got. Its price depends on its materials since they could go from semi-precious gemstones to even clay. 

People of all classes use jewelry since there’s virtually everything available for everyone. However, trendy jewelry that stays with fashion tends to be more expensive. 

Words of wisdom towards the end

Now that you know some characteristics about each sub-type of jewelry. It may be easier for you to identify the one you use or want to get. One of the most interesting thing about the Faberge style. Is the matter of how Faberge jewelry started hundreds of years ago, and it’s still connected to modern jewelry. 

Original Faberge eggs work as containers of modern and old jewelry, which makes it the perfect combination of both. Some people even see them as trinket boxes.