Monday 22 July 2013

Jewellery Stand

Jewellery Stand Biogarphy

Source(google.com.pk)
The Victorian Era of jewelry, a time of romanticism, begins around 1835 and ends around 1890. Queen Victoria was of whom this entire era was named after–she was not only the ruler of all England at the time, but a highly looked upon trendsetter, admired by everyone. Her marriage and wedding to Albert portrays many attributes of the time–Victoria was presented with an engagement ring that featured a snake with an emerald-set head (birthstones rather than diamonds were used in engagement rings, and snakes were a symbol of eternal love). Her wedding dress featured a large sapphire and diamond brooch, which was given to her from Albert the day before their wedding. With the death of Albert some 20 years later, this tragic event influenced the world of jewelry. Having Queen Victoria constantly wearing black, black enameling became very popular as well as jet beads.
King Edward VII took the throne, which began the Edwardian Period in 1901 and lasted until around 1915, around the start of the first World War. During this time, fashion and opulence were the forefront of society. Women were as feminine as possible, outfitted with delicate layers of feathers, bows, lace and silk. Queen Alexandra was iconic. She often wore many strands of pearls and other necklaces all layered together, as illustrated in the picture below. Progress made in gem cutting made triangles, baguettes and trapeze shapes new and interesting. This time in history marked England as a global, dominant force, with the rich living in extravagance.
The start of World War I made for a quick end to this lavish era of a carefree spirit. Precious metals became scarce, while many people hid away their jewels in vaults or had to sell them.
This is not to say that cheap jewelry did not exist prior to the 1930s. Paste or glass jewelry was made as early as the 1700s, but was done for the rich who wanted their fine jewelry duplicated for a variety of reasons. In the mid-1800s, with the growth of the middle class, three different levels of jewelry were manufactured using fine, semi-precious and base materials. Fine jewelry of gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires continued to be made, as it had been for centuries and still is today. For the middle and upper middle class, jewelry from rolled gold (a thin sheet of gold attached to another metal), and semi-precious gems (garnets, amethysts, turquoise, coral, pearls, etc.) was readily available. But there was also jewelry for those with smaller budgets. Glass stones and base metals made to look like gold were used for jewelry that imitated its more expensive counterparts. In all three cases, the jewelry was meant to last and be handed down to successive generations. It was not to be casually tossed aside when new clothing fashions came into vogue.
So how does one identify what pieces are and when they were made? Most jewelry is easily identifiable as to its function-something is clearly a necklace or a bracelet or a pair of earrings. But, throughout the years, specialty forms have sprung up that are not as familiar and were only worn for a specific period of time. A good example is dress clips, which were first made in the 1930s and went out of fashion by the 1950s. Dress clips are made with a particular type of hinged clasp on the back. Therefore, identifying and dating a dress clip is fairly easy. For other specialty forms, research will often be necessary to find out what the piece is, what it was used for and how it was worn. Fortunately, in the past seven years, numerous jewelry reference books have been published to assist with such research.



Jewellery Stand

Jewellery Stand


Jewellery Stand


Jewellery Stand


Jewellery Stand


Jewellery Stand


Jewellery Stand


Jewellery Stand


Jewellery Stand


Jewellery Stand


Jewellery Stand

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