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The Georgian Era was from 1714 until 1836. This era of time was named after England’s kings, George I, II, & III. During this time period, the aristocratic and wealthy people wore all kinds of jewels and this practice was not reserved for the ladies only.

Men during this time wore such pieces of jewelry as jeweled buttons on their coats, on the knees of their breeches, chains, pocket watches, and fobs. Both sexes were known to wear buckles on their shoes. Many times women would wear a set of matching jewelry, which would include a necklace, ring, bracelets, earrings, and tiara.

Jewelry on women could be seen as jeweled bands in the hair, jeweled bands on the upper arm, jeweled bands on the calves, thighs, and yes the toes. Since so much jewelry was worn the clothing had to be creative so the wealthy ladies could show off their jewels, thus came the low cut neckline, and the splits in the dresses from the floor to either the knee or even the thigh. Sandals were also often worn without any leg coverings or with tights that were flesh colored.

During the French Revolution, a small red ribbon was worn tight around the neck to replicate a victim of the guillotine.

Love tokens during this era were more often in the form of a crowned heart design. Silver was more popular than gold during the Georgian Era often adorned with diamonds.

Mourning jewelry or Memento Mori was created to honor the deceased. The more designs shows either a skeleton or skull with blank enamel or black stones.

Mourning Jewelry or “Memento Mori” is jewelry made to honor the dead. Popular designs show a skull or skeleton, black stones, or black enamel. Hair could form a design or be mixed in with paint to create a picture. See more specifics about this type of jewelry on the page Mourning & Hair Jewelry.

Large brooches known as stomacher were worn from the lower cut neckline of a gown to around the waistline.

Chatelaines were a type of jewelry that was worn at the waist. Many times attached to these work items used for chores or work such as knives and scissors along with decorative items. These were popular until the early 1920’s.

Flowers were often used as a design for many of the jewelry pieces of the era. However, they were not meant to duplicate or even be recognized as a flower just a unique style.

Stone cutting was very difficult during the Georgian era and mine cut or the rose cut was the most popular cut because of this. The mine cuts had a flat top whereas the rose cuts had a pointed top.

Paste stones were often used in place of gems that are more expensive. These stones were placed in the same settings, as you would normally see the expensive gems. The stones were cut to fit any type of jewelry piece.

Cameos became popular during this era around 1800.  The popularity of cameos came about when Josephine, the wife of Napoleon, wore a headdress of antique cameos to her coronation.

Necklaces were created with rings on both ends where a ribbon was placed through and then tied into a bow at the neckline.

All jewelry during the Georgian Era was handmade and many were designed so they could come apart and make two separate pieces of jewelry. An example of this would be a necklace in which the pendant part could also pose as a brooch.

This era of jewelry was during the same time period as the Victorian era. The Art Nouveau began in France and was commonly called La Belle Epoche or The Beautiful Time. This style was created in rebellion against the industry of jewelry making.

The designs of the jewelry were completely different from other pieces of jewelry around that time being more curvy often-depicting nude females, crescents, heads, and common plants. The majority of these styles were believed to have been intended to evoke mystical symbols or even magical powers. For a person to wear this jewelry they had to quite daring.

One such actress that was daring enough not only to wear the jewelry but was behind the creation was Sarah Bernhardt.

The jewelry did was not blended as most pieces such as combinations put precious gems with horn, amber, ivory, or blister pearls. The appeal of this jewelry was more of an artistic form rather than the materials used. So many of the designs used common plants and animals, that had prior to this time, been considered to bland to use in jewelry making. The Art Nouveau Era gave birth to the reality that even the most common animals and plants were beautiful.

Some of the most popular designs were butterflies, wasps, dragonflies, bees, swans, owls, bats, peacocks, dragons, poppies, sunflowers, dandelions, mums, and fantasy creatures such as unicorns and fairies.

Japan had quite a bit to do with this unique jewelry trend. Japan was opened up to the west in 1853 and along with this came their beautiful art and the jewel toned enamels. This brought about the use of enamel in various pieces of jewelry. The types of enamel you could see during the Art Nouveau era were Basse – Taille, Champleve, Cloisonne, Limoge, and Plique A’Jour.

The Plique a Jour was the most popular. The technique used very thin layers of enamel that had the look of stained glass. Many of these pieces were created by Rene Lalique. He used such items as glass, horn, and semi precious gems to create his masterpieces.

Other famous jewelry makers during the Art Nouveau include Louis Tiffany, George Fouquet, and Karl Faberge. You can find many of their artwork in museums today.

Silver jewelry pieces were very popular as well with such designers as the Unger Brothers and William Kerr.

By 1915, the Art Nouveau era was gone. The jewelry created during this time was hidden away since many claimed the pieces to be old fashioned and ugly. Some people even melted down what they could and created new and more modern items going to extreme lengths to create something out of the jewelry no longer acceptable.

The Art Nouveau came in with ridicule and left the same way. Today, it is only admired as artwork and still would never be worn. If you search far and wide, you may find some reproductions out there but are you daring enough to wear a piece of Plique a Jour jewelry?