Victoria's Secrets: The History of Jewelry, Part 3

The Middle Ages

Jewelry-making skills continued to develop in post-Roman Europe, with the Celts and Merovingians in particular noted for their jewelry, whose quality matched or exceeded that of Byzantium. The most common artifacts found from this era include clothing fasteners, amulets, and to a lesser extent signet rings. The torque, a large, rigid neck ring, was common throughout Europe as a symbol of status and power. By the 8th century, jeweled weaponry was common for men, while other jewelry (with the exception of signet rings) became the domain of women, who were often buried with all their jewelry. The Celts specialized in intricate continuous patterns and designs, while Merovingian designs are best known for stylized animal figures. The Visigoths also made quality pieces, as the numerous decorative objects found at the Anglo-Saxon ship burial at Sutton Hoo, in Suffolk, England, can attest. On the continent, cloisonné and garnet were perhaps the quintessential method and gemstone of the period.

To the east, the Byzantine Empire continued many of the methods of the Romans, although religious themes came to predominate in its designs. Unlike the Romans, the Franks, and the Celts, however, the Byzantines used lightweight gold leaf rather than solid gold, and placed more emphasis on stones and gems than just metalworking. As in the West, Byzantine jewelry was worn by wealthier females, with male jewelry apparently restricted to signet rings. As in other contemporary cultures, jewelry was commonly buried with its owner.

The Renaissance

The boom in world exploration brought major changes in jewelry development in Renaissance Europe. By the 17th century, world exploration and trade led to the increased availability of a wide variety of gemstones, as well as exposure to the art of other cultures. This period saw the increasing dominance of gemstones and their settings. A fascinating example of this is the Cheapside Hoard, the stock of a jeweler hidden in London during the Commonwealth period and not rediscovered until 1912. Among his treasures were Colombian emerald, topaz, amazonite from Brazil, spinel, iolite, and chrysoberyl from Sri Lanka, ruby from India, Afghani lapis lazuli, Persian turquoise, and Red Sea peridot, as well as Bohemian and Hungarian opal, garnet, and amethyst. Large stones were frequently set in box-bezels on enameled rings. It was in the 1660s that Jean-Baptiste Tavernier brought the stone that was to become the Hope Diamond to France.

When Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor of the French in 1804, he revived the style and grandeur of jewelry and fashion in France. Under his rule, jewelers introduced parures: suites of matching jewelry such as a diamond tiara, diamond earrings, diamond rings, a diamond brooch, and a diamond necklace, all part of a matching set. Both of Napoleon’s wives had beautiful sets such as these and wore them regularly. Another fashion trend resurrected by Napoleon was the cameo. Soon after his cameo-decorated crown was revealed to the public, cameos became highly sought-after. 

The Renaissance period also saw the early emergence of costume jewelry, with fish scale-covered glass beads in place of pearls or conch shell cameos instead of stone cameos. New terms were coined in France to differentiate the arts: jewelers who worked in cheaper materials were called bijoutiers while those who worked with expensive materials were called joailliers, a practice that continues to this day.

Next time: Romanticism, Art Nouveau, Art Deco