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Discover Mid-America — Aprl 2004
Antiquing in Colorado
Investigating Art Deco Jewelry
I’m preparing to give a seminar for the University of Denver on antique and collectible jewelry. As with any endeavor, there are bumps in the road. Preparing a timeline, complete with physical examples from my shop’s collection, should have been easy. However, I’m finding that true Art Deco jewelry is almost impossible to find. Desperation led me to call one of my colleagues for an example. He didn’t have one either!
The evolution of Art Deco jewelry took many paths. Starting with WWI, after tough times of suffering and doing without, a new energy emerged. The Art Deco movement derived from many different cultures, with France leading the way. Most European countries developed their own style of Art Deco jewelry influenced by their own cultures. The newly found popularity of automobiles and airplanes enabled the different countries to communicate their different design ideas rather quickly. “Speed” was the operative word. Thus was born the idea that machines are also beautiful, the same as flora and fauna. Another dominating influence was the Russian Ballet that burst upon the stage with an array of color never seen before.
There are two fundamental concepts employed in Art Deco jewelry: polychromy and geometry. These two concepts both embrace the spirit of the times and are totally opposite from the Art Nouveau movement. They also presented an enormous challenge to the jewelry designers of the 1920’s.
One of the best outcomes of this is that they used any and all materials available. They mixed transparent stones such as diamonds, sapphires and rubies with turquoise, onyx and amber. The geometric influence led to the creation of a crankshaft bracelet, an airplane propeller brooch and a ball bearing bangle! Pearls were also very popular, with three or four strands usually worn at one time. They were very long, sometimes down to the knees.
Pearls are never wrong and this holds true today. In 21 years in business, I have only owned two strands of original long pearl ropes. I think they were separated and each daughter received a strand. Chandelier earrings were also an Art Deco jewelry staple and they are enjoying a comeback today.
There was also some opposition to the severity of geometric jewelry. To paraphrase a quote, “The advent of a mechanical world does not make a woman a machine!” Towards the end of the 1920’s, filigree jewelry made its debut. It was so popular and prolific that many examples survived and are the engagement ring of choice today.
Syrma Sotiriou is the proprietor of The Treasured Scarab in Denver, and a regular contributor to Discover Mid-America. Contact her at (303) 777-6884.
> Antiquing in Colorado Archive — past columns
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