Jazz! Flappers! Beads! The Charleston! When one thinks of the Roaring 20s, i.e. the Art Deco Era, these are the images that come to mind. No longer did women want to stay repressed. More freedom translated to looser clothing styles and shorter hair, setting the stage for jewelry designers to get creative! The creation and introduction of white gold in 1918 was huge! Cheaper than platinum and stronger than silver, women could now afford to adorn themselves with beautiful bobbles and not break the bank. Costume jewelers used pot metal to mimic silver and white gold and this cheap metal was often set with glass stones to gorgeous effect. Long strands of pearls and beads swung to and fro while a lady danced, and long dangling earrings were seen to great advantage given the short hairstyles of the day. Let’s take a look at some of the gorgeous jewelry from this era. We’ll start with earrings, as I am quite the earring junkie – you will find plenty of fabulous pairs for purchase in my shop.
Here is great example of Art Deco style in earrings. These are made from pot metal and set with clear rhinestones (glass). They sparkle and shine like diamonds when worn. Note the strong geometric design – the repeating triangles. This is a hallmark of the Deco era:
Women also loved to wear rings during the 1920s. These rings were sometimes very innovative, reflective of the mentality of the era. Take a look at this 14K white gold piece. It is called a flip ring, because the central motif rotated to reveal either a cameo or an onyx and diamond rectangle. Note the engraving/stamping along the shank and the sides of the ring. This was very common during the Deco era and could get quite elaborate.
Dress Clips and Fur Clips made a huge reappearance during the Roaring 20s. Fur clips had large prongs on the back, allowing one to use it on a fur coat or stole. A dress clip had a hinged mechanism for attaching to a blouse or dress. Both these pieces are costume jewelry, not real diamonds, emeralds and gold. Note how they were made to resemble fine jewelry:
Now let’s move on to bracelets. Some bracelets were made to resemble fine jewelry, like this classic sterling silver line bracelet. The gorgeous engraving on the sides and large close-set square glass stones scream Art Deco. Simple, elegant, geometric in style:
Other examples of Art Deco bracelets included glass geometric shapes in beautiful colors mixed with either gold or silver metal. This bracelet features robin’s egg blue glass squares combined with sterling rings and links. Note the fold-over clasp which was very common in Art Deco jewelry.
No discussion of Art Deco jewelry would be complete without some examples of flapper beads. Feast your eyes on these! The cut crystal is exquisite as is the hand-painting.Glass seed beads, as per the middle photo, were also commonly used!
Hope you enjoyed your tour through the Roaring 20s! I’ll continue in the future with discussions on how the 1930s continued this trend, and how the Great Depression influenced style. I’ll also treat you to some examples of purses from the Era as their beauty and workmanship is stellar! Until then, enjoy the warm days ahead!
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