Art Nouveau Jewelry

For many people, jewelry isn’t just about the latest trends and styles. The history of jewelry is actually a thriving field of study with in the history of fashion world, and for good reason. Looking at the jewelry that is popular from a particular time period can tell you a lot about the period. You can learn about the importance people placed on things like fashion based upon how extravagant the jewelry is, about the kind of art that was popular during the time period based on the jewelry design, and what kinds of materials were readily available based on the materials used to create the jewelry. The art nouveau jewelry school is a great example of jewelry that reflects a specific time period. This jewelry style, which was popular in the late 19th century and early 20th century was popular during a time of great change, and these changes were apparent in the style of the jewelry.

About Art Nouveau Jewelry

Like many other famous jewelry styles, the art nouveau style of jewelry got its start in the fashion houses of Paris and spread outward. During this time period, the conservatism of the Victorian period of history was beginning to wane, and fashion and jewelry became a little more frivolous. Art nouveau jewelry placed an emphasis on the design of the jewelry over the materials used in the jewelry, and so less expensive materials became a popular facet in the jewelry style, such as art nouveau silver jewelry and jewelry with semi precious stones like opals, citrine, and freshwater pearls. The jewelry design itself was very ornate, with an emphasis on flowing line for metallic jewelry, and a heavy use of enameling and stained glass features. The jewelry was often colorful and brash. Flowers were popular themes for enameled pictures and for pendants and charms in art nouveau jewelry.

Another popular part of art nouveau was art nouveau jewelry caskets. These so called caskets are really ornate jewelry boxes created during the art nouveau period, usually decorated with gilded flowers of some sort. There is a wealth of information about the history of art nouveau jewelry casket history on the internet.

Buying Art Nouveau Jewelry

Vintage art nouveau jewelry can be a little challenging to find. The best places to shop are second hand shops, auction houses, and online auction websites. There are also some online outlets that specialize in selling authentic art nouveau jewelry. Of course, if you can’t find what you’re looking for, or you just don’t want to spend too much money, you can try reproduction art nouveau jewelry. This art nouveau costume jewelry is modern manufactured to copy art nouveau styles and costs significantly less than the real thing.