Art Deco covered the period between 1920′s and 1930′s and saw an increase in simple shapes of jewelry, mainly because the political tensions of that between wars era, where jewelry was seen as a form of decadence. In Art Deco new materials appeared, like plastic and aluminum.

Modern times jewelry making begun in late 1940′s, just after World War II ended and introduced jewellery like a form of wearable art, making it a mass market product as new materials appeared and replacement artificial stones begun to emerge. Culture had a big role in the development of different jewelry styles, one notable example is the bling-bling style popularized by hip-hop and rap artists.

The technical progress of CAM/CAD (Computer Aided Design) made possible very complex forms that can be reproduced in large scale. Maybe that’s why Jewelry is not a sign of statute anymore as it was in past centuries.

Modern jewelry pendant

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During Renaissance exploration made available a wide variety of beads, gems, stones and metals, so that jewelry making techniques borrowed heavily from one culture to another. Napoleon was a jewelry lover and during his age jeweller introduced parures, suites of matching jewellery, such as a diamond tiara, diamond earrings, diamond rings, a diamond brooch and a diamond necklace, all in one matching jewelry set.

In Romanticism changing social conditions and growing interest from medium class for jewelry saw an orientation in jewelry making towards cheaper materials used in building them in order to grow availability. In United States, Tiffany’s company, founded in 1837 made US a point in the worldwide map of jewelry.

19th century jewelry

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In Africa jewelry was made from bones, teeth and stones. The first cooper jewelry appeared around 5000 BC, 7000 years ago. The first professional making shops appeared in Egypt, where gold jewelry was much appreciated because of its scarcity, as it symbolized power and wealth. Together with gold, Egyptians used colored glass to put together jewelry as they could control the color which was a very important matter for them.

In Mesopotamia, 4000 years ago jewelry making was one of the main occupations in the cities of Sumer and Akkad. The main supplies used were gold, silver and semiprecious stones. The most used shapes for Mesopotamian jewelry were leafs, spirals, cones and bunches of grapes.

Greeks were using gold and gems in jewelry around 1400 BC and by 300 BC they have mastered the techniques of coloured jewelry. At first Greek jewelry was pretty simple in design compared to other cultures but in time it become more sophisticated in shape and range of materials used. Greek jewelry was mainly used for public appearances and gifts and women used to worn them as a sign of wealth.

Romans, as a conquering nation adopted various types of jewelry according with what they’ve confiscated from different tribes. Because of the variety of materials available, Romans had one of the most diversified jewelry items at that times. Also different from other cultures, the Romans men used to wear more jewelry than the women. When the Roman empire went down, the jewelry designs were absorbed by various neighbour cultures.

Roman jewelry pendant

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