| Style |
Period |
Characteristics
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| Georgian |
1714 to 1837 |
Glamorous, imaginative, delicate, and light; more austere and dignified after 1775; generous use of rubies, sapphires, emeralds and gold
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| Early Victorian |
1837 to 1860 |
Romantic, sentimental, nostalgic; often celebrates memory of person or animal, a commemorative date, image of a sweetheart; lockets, chatelaines
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| Mid Victorian |
1860 to 1885 |
Grand, forthright, assertive, and solid with a bold look; lots of mourning Jewellery, black stones – jet, French jet, onyx; quantity and variety make it easy to collect
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Late Victorian Edwardian
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1885 to 1905 |
Aesthetic, lighter in scale, dainty; stars, crescents, bird motifs, Japanese designs; alexandrite, amethyst, garnet, moon-stone, opal, sapphires, platinum; heavily influenced by Alexandra, wife of Edward VII
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| Art Nouveau |
1895 to 1910 |
Sensuous, emotionally beautiful; stylized motifs from nature with flowing lines, female forms, no sharp angles; artistry in design and composition emphasized; cabochons, ivory, sterling, enameling favoured
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| Arts and Crafts |
1880 to 1920 |
Strong lines, controlled movement; interlacing, complex motifs; design more disciplined than Art Nouveau, with emphasis on handwork: hammering, etching, embossing, patination, brass, copper, sterling
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| Art Deco |
1920 to 1930 |
Streamlined, with concise angular lines in strong geometric patterns; abstracts, “Machine Age” designs executed in synthetic and natural gemstones with plated metals and plastics
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| Art “Retro” |
1935 to 1945 |
Extravagantly massive; pinkish-coloured metals and baguette stones popular; stylized scrolls, floral motifs, brickwork, honeycomb and other geometrics; exaggerated use of genuine and synthetic coloured gems with small diamonds as accents; sterling, Lucite, Bakelite
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