Estate Art Deco Jewels

Fine Estate Art Deco Jewelry

The period from 1920 to 1935 is referred to as the Art Deco period and coincides with the Roaring 20s when the flapper donned her long necklaces and bold jewelry. It produced dazzling pieces of Art Deco Jewels in bright colors and straight lines. Long earrings were a popular part of Art Deco jewelry. The antique Art Deco jewelry is studded with emeralds, sapphires and rubies. These are jewels fit for a queen. Needless to say they are exorbitant and rare.

Art Deco Jewelry - Objects d'art

The restless, utopian, sensationalistic mood of the 1920s and '30s gave rise to the inimitable Art Deco style.

Art Deco jewels are smart, vibrant and energetic, not to mention timeless and, still to this day, has an avant garde sophistication.

It had no single founder and a variety of influences including cubism and African art. After the war years nothing could be more welcome than the brightly colored designs and exciting shapes of Art Deco.

The most noticeable characteristic of the Art Deco style was the geometric patterns, used in both painted designs and shapes, many of which were based on angular lines.

Also very important to the development of Art Deco designs was the use of color, with the use of vivid and bold colors. Platinum being strikingly crisp and white combined with the luster of diamonds was the underlying theme and style of Deco jewelry. The use of color was very dramatic. Black and white were highly used colors, while sapphires and emeralds, were used extensively.

Very popular with this period was the use of cigarette cases and holders, with heavily jeweled compacts. As well as diamond pendants and brooches, bangle bracelets, cocktail rings, became very popular. One of the most recognized pieces of this period was the double-clip brooch.

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Art Deco - An eclectic form of elegant and highly stylish modernism

The art deco movement was a composite of many different styles and movements of the early 20th century, including Neoclassical, Constructivism, Cubism, Modernism, Bauhaus, Art Nouveau, and Futurism. Its popularity peaked in Europe during the Roaring 20's and continued strongly in the United States through the 1930s. It was widely considered to be an eclectic form of elegant and highly stylish modernism, being influenced by a variety of sources and is based on mathematical geometric shapes usually with strong symmetry.

During the transformative decades of the 20s and 30s, the strong geometrical patterns and angular shapes associated with Art Deco Jewels, were influenced by the introduction of cubism into the art world after 1925.

Well known French designers were, Cartier, Bucheron, Van Cleef and Arpels, Fouquet and Mauboussin. For the Americans, it was Tiffany and Company and Harry Winston.

Artists included Tamara de Lempicka, fashion illustrator Erte, glass artist Rene Lalique and graphic designer Adolphe Mouron (known professionally as Cassandre).

Some artists involved in the movement, yet not pigeon-holed in a specific style, were Charles Burchfield and Edward Hopper.

Art Deco arrived at a final development that reflected the industrial age, that reconcilied the arts and machine production that had troubled artists and designers since the Industrial Revolution began.

Art Deco Engagement Rings

Antique engagement rings from the art deco period are highly prized. They are usually made of white gold and platinum, and contain antique diamonds such as Old European Cut and Asscher Cut diamonds.

Unexpected and dramatic combinations of materials in jewelry; for example, coral and diamonds, or turquoise and sapphire.

King Tut's tomb incited a craze for Egyptian motifs like the scarab, sphinx and falcon. Carved gemstones, ivory, jade and highly-stylized natural motifs reflects the influence of India and the Orient.

Christie's Art Deco

Treasured Art Deco objects are showcased in this superb guide to a fascinating movement that flourished during the 1920s and 1930s, reaching into every sphere of decorative arts design throughout Europe and the United States. Gleaned from precious private collections and the archives of the world-famous Christie's auction house, the objects surveyed range from posh furniture, sleek sculpture, and bold architectural detailing to imaginative ceramics, luxurious jewelry, innovative metalwork, and powerful posters. For decorative arts enthusiasts, collectors, designers, and students, this introductory overview and ongoing reference source opens the door to one of the most influential design periods of the twentieth century. Each chapter's thematic approach considers a particular decorative art and focuses on key players in that field: Lalique and his extraordinarily sinuous glassware and Clarice Cliff and her distinctively shaped and colored ceramics are two of the many notable artists who set standards for design excellence that endure to this day. The author's scholarly text traces the development of Art Deco in each design area and within the broader historical context of an era marked by the quest for a lifestyle filled with speed and opulence.

Christie's Art Deco

Amazon Price: (as of 12/03/2008)

The many crisply-photographed images seem to have been selected with care, myriad interesting and attractive Art Deco pieces. The text covered a great deal of specific Art Deco-era designers and their works with great comprehensiveness. Expect primer, not only on major artists and key pieces, but also on the companies for which these artists worked, the expositions at which they exhibited, and the schools to which they belonged (as well as a bit about the related political and social climates of the time.)