Understanding Jewellery by David Bennett and Daniella Mascetti.

Understanding Jewellery by David Bennett and Daniella Mascetti, published by Antique Collectors' Club Ltd..

To put things simply this book’s title is nothing if not apt as it explains everything to do with jewellery. The book starts off with a chapter on gemstones describing the difference between precious and semi-precious gemstones used in the various designs that are then discussed in the book. It is immediately followed by four Appendices also dedicated to gems and stones and their qualities such as light refraction and reflection, their grading on the Mohs scale, their treatment and enhancement and a separate appendix discussing pastes and composite stones.

The following chapters are then split up into increments of age with the first one encompassing from the late 18^th century to 1820. Every chapter following covers 20 years each from 1820 onwards. For the purposes of the literature review I have read Chapter 7: From 1920 to 1940, Chapter 8: The 1940s and the Post-War Years, & Chapter 9: From 1960 to 1980.

Much like the other chapters which I will not mention in this blog, this section of the book discusses the major styles that influenced design throughout the eras. The authors also mention pieces that either stopped being designed or were invented during those times such as the ending of parures or the amalgamation of female wristwatches into the modern-day suite. The popularity of particular metals and gemstones during the years covered are mentioned in reference to the styles in rising fashions. The fashion of the jewellery itself is also changed by the discovery of new materials continuously happening throughout the years as well as the cultures of the buyers themselves such as the Indian Maharanis and Middle Eastern Sheiks.

Helpful to my research is how the authors distinguish between the work of one designer or house and another. This is helped with the use of illustrations in plentiful quantity in each chapter and cross-referencing of said illustrations within the text itself. In line with this, they also mention designers that became popular during a particular time such as David Webb in the 1970s as well as landmark designs created by particular houses which then might have been copied or adapted by others.

References

Bennett, D. & Mascetti, D., 2003. Understanding Jewellery. 3rd ed. Suffolk: Antique Collectors' Club Ltd..

Jewelry That Breaks With Tradition in The New York Times

Jewelry That Breaks with Tradition by Kathleen Beckett, published in The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/18/style/international/jewelry-that-breaks-with-tradition.html?_r=0

By interviewing Eddie Borgo, a New-York based jewellery designer; Marie Lassange, head buyer of fine jewellery and watches at Le Bon Marche in Paris; Joel Towers, Executive Dean of Parsons: The New School of Design, and Stephen Webster, London jewellery designer, Beckett tries to find a reason for the new forms and materials found in the jewellery market today.

With the help of these four, Beckett uncovers some key details in jewellery design today. It is not just the creative atmosphere among the designers themselves that has produced a surge in this contemporary style but also the creativity with which customers are choosing to wear their jewellery. Stephen Webster discusses one important change with Beckett: the fact that “[w]omen are now buying jewelry for themselves,” and as he puts it women take risks, men don’t. Personally I agree, designers would have had to make jewellery both attractive to the women wearing it and the men buying it twenty or thirty years ago, whereas now they can create specifically for the women themselves without the fear of not selling their designs.

Another important aspect to selling these designs is that they are still made in expensive materials – perhaps not the gold and diamonds that most people are used to but materials are considered luxurious today.

References

Beckett, K., 2015. Jewelry That Breaks With Tradition. The New York Times [Online] 17 March
Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/18/style/international/jewelry-that-breaks-with-tradition.html?_r=0
[Accessed 13 April 2015].

Jewelry Inspired by Empires in The New York Times.

Jewelry Inspired by Empires by Susanne Fowler, Published in The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/18/style/international/jewelry-inspired-by-empires.html 

This article was strictly focused on one designer: Aida Bergsen, who runs a jewellery design business outside of a workshop in the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. Fowler describes Bergsen’s designs in detail and differentiates between her works and those of the other jewellers in the bazaar which are more ‘inspired’ by the jewellery created by the larger, more well-known design houses.

Fowler also covers some of Bergsen’s inspirational sources such as the Ottoman Empire, which immediately reminds one of when the world’s jewellery designers were inspired by their own empires’ discoveries such as the Tomb of Tutankhamun and the Mayan civilizations.

Lastly Bergsen herself describes her process of hand carving the designs in wax before casting them in metal.

Honestly, the article was extremely interesting however I don't feel that it  contains any particular information that would be useful to my essay. 

References

Fowler, S., 2015. Jewelry Inspired by Empires. The New York Times [Online] 17 March
Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/18/style/international/jewelry-inspired-by-empires.html
[Accessed 13 April 2015].

From An American In Paris, Custom-made Jewelry in The New York Times

From An American In Paris, Custom-made Jewelry by Bernadine Morris, Published in the New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/05/style/from-an-american-in-paris-custom-made-jewelry.html

JAR, which stands for Joel Arthur Rosenthal, is a name which continually pops up when one is reading about jewellery design in the late 20 century and so I felt compelled to pull up a few articles on him, which wasn’t easy as he seems to be very reclusive.

This article, in fact, is 30 years old, dating back to when JAR was still gaining a certain kind of momentum across the globe. Rosenthal seems to be considered one of the greatest jewellers that was active in the 80s. His pieces are inspired heavily by historicism and the modern styles such as Art Nouveau and Art Deco. In this article he explains that his designs are based on the stones and the gems that he uses and not the other way around. This might be the reason why all his pieces, save one, are one of a kind.

Morris explains that JAR does not believe that earrings should match each other and are just as beautiful, if not more, when they are asymmetrical. The jeweller also tells Morris that, when designing, earrings have to be seen on a woman’s face otherwise they “can be a disaster” as JAR says.

This article helped me get a glimpse into who JAR is and why he is considered so important. Reading up on Rosenthal, I get the distinct impression that he was as important to 80s and 90s jewellery as Lalique was in the 1900s and 1910s. Although I have sourced enough books for this particular essay, I feel that it would not be wasted to get a book dedicated to this designer.

References

Morris, B., 1985. From an American in Paris, Custom-Made Jewelry. The New York Times [Online] 5 October
Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/05/style/from-an-american-in-paris-custom-made-jewelry.html
[Accessed 13 April 2015].

20th Century Jewelry: The Complete Sourcebook by John Peacock

20^th Century Jewelry: The Complete Sourcebook by John Peacock, published by Thames & Hudson.

There isn’t a lot to say about this book as the majority of the content is illustrations. That being said, however, it was helpful to me as each illustration (which are hand-drawn and not simple photos) has a description allocated to it which lists the materials of the piece. Furthermore, each page shows particular pieces during a particular time (Necklaces 1910-1919) which provides recognition of the predominant style at the listed time. This is also true of the descriptions which provide knowledge of materials and therefore one can easily see what the most dominant materials in a particular era were.

References

Peacock, J., 2002. 20th Century Jewelry: The Complete Sourcebook. London: Thames & Hudson.

Jewelry International: Volume III by Caroline Childers.

Jewelry International: Volume III by Caroline Childers, published by Tourbillon International. 

When I first saw this book I was a bit sceptical as to how useful it would actually be to my research. However when I started reading I did find it very useful indeed. The book is split into three sections. In the first section, Childers discusses a huge inspiration point for jewellers around the world and throughout history... Animals. She looks at how the ancient civilizations such as the Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Etruscans, Mayans and Aztecs among others, used animal motifs in their jewellery and why they used to use particular animals over others. She moves through history charting particular animals and countries and discussing what differentiates their jewellery from that of all the others. Six chapters allow a more detailed look at specific species including those mythical. (Reptiles, Mammals, Birds, Insects, Creatures of the Sea, Fantastical Animals.)

The second section of the book deals with gemstones. Each of the 24 short chapters in this section deal with a gemstone that is either precious or semi-precious, mineral or organic and discusses their properties, uses, origins and, in certain cases, which one of the many designers was responsible for popularising them. Wherever possible the author also discusses ancient legends which might have promoted the use of these stones in ancient civilizations or stories of popular version of stones such as those of the Hope, Koh-I-Noor and The Great Star of Africa diamonds. (Agate, Amber, Amethyst, Aquamarine, Chrysoberyl, Citrine, Coral, Diamond, Emerald, Garnet, Jade, Lapis Lazuli, Moonstone, Opal, Pearl, Peridot, Quartz, Ruby, Sapphire, Spinel, Tanzanite, Topaz, Tourmaline, Turquoise.)

The final section consists of 18 chapters which covers 18 different ‘Houses of Prestige’. Each chapter discusses the trademark of the company it covers and how this changed or remained throughout the history of the house and, in cases where the founder has retired or died, what the current designers are looking to achieve now and how they are trying to keep their legacy alive. This, along with certain key pieces and customers that are eternally linked to the houses. (Andreoli, Arunashi, ASSAEL, AUTORE, Bayco, Bulgari, Cartier, Chopard, Cora, Daniella Kronfle, David Morris, DAVID WEBB, de GRISOGONO, Jacob & Co., Olivia, Robert Wan, Yossi Harari, ZORAB.)

References

Childers, C., 2011. Jewelry International: Volume III. Annual ed. New York : Tourbillon International .

Art Nouveau Jewelry by Vivienne Becker.

Art Nouveau Jewelry by Vivienne Becker, published by Thames & Hudson.

The reason I chose to read this book was because, apart from being my personal favourite era, Art Nouveau serves as a starting point to my research. It was during this era that a lot of advances were made in the world of jewellery.

In her book Vivienne Becker charts the development of jewellery design from right before to right after the Art Nouveau style, making a connection with creators who inspired the jewellers in the dawn of the 20^th century and how these, in turn, inspired those who came after or how they themselves adapted their designs to fit the new style of Art Deco.

Each chapter is split into a country where the style was very dominant and took on an independence to what was being done in other countries, namely: France, Germany & Austria, Great Britain and the United States. The final chapter collects all the minimal information on Art Nouveau jewellery in other countries, information that on its own would not merit a chapter but collected together shows the diversity of the style as it travelled across the globe, while identifying key motifs and inspirational points to Art Nouveau (such as insects, reptiles, and Japonisme) in her introduction.

Becker not only comments on the style in general but also on what particular designers such as Lalique, Fouquet, Vever, and Tiffany were doing in particular. She identifies how one designer’s pieces varied from those of another even within the same country. This was particularly interesting to my research as in this manner she mentions three of the four particular designers I am currently researching (Lalique, Tiffany, and Cartier)

Throughout the course of the book, Becker also identifies world events that would have affected design, such as the opening of Japan’s art borders to the rest of the world and America, having played an instrumental role, would be the country to take the most advantage of this situation.

Helping the reader to get a clearer picture of the style are photos of the jewellery itself, some in colour, the majority in grey-scale, although this does not affect the detail which one can see in the photos of the pieces.

All in all this book is a great starting point to my research even though it does not provide all of the historical development I need for my essay. 

References

Becker, V., 1998. Art Nouveau Jewelry. 1st ed. London: Thames & Hudson.