Geometric lines & bold designs: Art Deco jewelry

First appearing in Paris in the 1910s, Art Deco style flourished in the 1920s and 30s in Europe and the United States. Post-WWI, there was a dramatic change from fashions of the past, as women took on jobs while men were away at war. Women demanded equal rights, and the styles of the time reflected their rebellion against tradition. Restrictive clothing such as corsets were ditched in favor of looser garments that were easier to move in, and hair and hemlines were cut short. Breaking away dramatically from the delicate, flowy, and nature-inspired designs of the Art Nouveau era, Art Deco jewelry is bold and geometric, with clean, symmetric lines. Art from Japan, China, India, and Egypt remained influential, as well as African and Indigenous American art. New materials such as lab-grown corundum and cultured pearls hit the market, and innovative gem cutting and setting techniques were developed. 

 

Belais 18k white gold ring, c. 1920s

 

White metals were the main color used in the Art Deco era. Due to the platinum restrictions of WWI, jewelers began to experiment with creating white gold alloys, and the most well-known version was created by jeweler David Belais, a US-based jeweler who was an early manufacturer of white gold jewelry, receiving a patent for the alloy in 1920. After the war ended, platinum restrictions were lifted, allowing the metal to be used in jewelry again. Both white gold and platinum were commonly used in jewelry of the era.

 

Art Deco ring (c. 1920s) with diamonds and synthetic sapphires

 

Corundum was first synthesized in the late 1800s by French chemist Auguste Verneuil by the flame fusion method (Verneuil method), first using chromium oxide to synthesize rubies, and a few years later, iron and titanium oxides for sapphires. The lower cost and consistent color led to synthetic rubies and sapphires being used quite often in Art Deco jewelry. These synthetic gemstones were often cut into new shapes, such as triangles, half-moons, and calibré cuts– multiple smaller gemstone custom-cut to outline a shape, fitting perfectly together.

Meanwhile, in Japan, Kokichi Mikimoto was experimenting with using mother-of-pearl nuclei implanted in pearl oysters. Up until this point, pearls were incredibly rare and expensive, as divers had to swim down into the depths of the ocean to retrieve mollusks that might have pearls inside, a dangerous and laborious process– and only a small percentage of the mollusks would contain pearls. While Mikimoto was not the first to cultivate pearls, he refined the process, resulting in the first commercially available cultured pearls, round and lustrous, at a scale much larger than natural pearl production, without the need for divers to risk their lives. A strand of cultured pearls became an iconic part of the Art Deco look. 

 

Modern invisible set ruby ring

One of the most impressive new techniques was developed by jewelry house Van Cleef & Arpels: the invisible or mystery setting. Each gemstone is carefully cut with grooves that interlock, with a lattice in the back to support, allowing the gemstones to be held in place with no metal visible between them in the front. 

By the end of the 1930s, Art Deco became less prominent as styles shifted again, leading to what became known as the retro era of jewelry.