Paris in the Fall

Inspiration is in the air and Paris is the city! You have to love the French, their way of life, their architecture, their fashion sense, all they do seems to vibrate with a love of living. Cold and windy, nevertheless every Parisian imaginable was clustered in open air sidewalk cafes - yes outside that is! Sit inside in the heat, never. The de rigeur scarf jauntily donned, buttoned up and gloved, they gathered to sip chocolat chaud, or cafe au lait, and talk, talk talk. No matter the weather,  they were socializing at every hour of the day.

And to prove there is nary a day that passes that I don't learn something, a new term is now part of my vocabulary. "Pomponne". Similar to the English term, "Pinchbeck". Pomponne is used to describe French antique jewelry made of base metals that resembles gold. Pinchbeck as you may know is an alloy of copper and zinc that was used primarily in the 18th century up until the mid 19th century. It is named after its inventor, Christopher Pinchbeck. Then, the machine age with its technology for rolled gold (and also gold filled and other gold alloys) drove its popularity into the ground and it disappeared. The term, Pomponne,  is said to derive from the nobleman, the Marquis de Pomponne who lived in the late 17th century. We are still researching how this tie to this diplomat came to be.

Pinchbeck jewelry examples can be viewed at www.georgianjewelry.com.

The History of Antique Jewelry - Georgian & Victorian Jewelry

Georgian Jewelry
The term Georgian refers to an era in English history during the reign of the four King Georges I-IV, from 1714 - 1830. Like the term Victorian (used for jewelry during Queen Victoria's rule), it is accepted in use as a term that refers to certain styles of jewelry. While this time period saw a number of stylistic changes and is a broad, sweeping category, the label is often used for jewelry with certain characteristics. Sometimes the term is applied to jewelry of other countries (France, Italy, United States for example) but its use is not entirely appropriate, but generally still accepted as a means to refer to a time period and certain styles of antique jewelry.

Eighteenth Century Georgian Jewelry
For the privileged and elite, the century saw a great increase in evening pursuits as improvements in candles gave rise to longer burning and brighter candles. Thus balls and soirees of sumptuous proportions rose to exceptional heights. Thus the divide between day and evening jewelry marked a new chapter in jewelry history. Women often wore pearls, garnets, moss agate or colored gems or paste in daytime. The most formal evening events, courts, balls or receptions were the only times appropriate for diamond jewelry. Diamonds found new favor. Mines opened in Golconda, India opened and Brazil's mines produced stones in the 1720's so diamonds were more readily available.

Closed backs were used on almost all gems and paste stones. Open backs were known, but most examples we see today are closed. The full art of stone cutting and allowing light through a gem to reveal its refractive properties was not yet truly understood. In addition, most stones were then foiled. Foiling is a metal coating, sometimes colored, and painted on the back of a stone to enhance its brilliance. Often cuts of gems were either the rose cut, the old mine cut, and a few table cuts were still in use. Brilliant cuts also gained popularity. For colored gems often a flat cut was used - the top being flat with a few facets on the edges.

For metals, silver or gold was in use, but platinum was not yet discovered and white gold was not found in jewelry. Rose gold, yellow gold, silver, and sometimes green or red gold were employed. Most diamond jewelry was almost always set in silver; the sentiments of the time were that the silver color of the metal enhanced the properties of diamonds, where a gold surrounding did not. The backs of jewelry and ear wires were often gold to prevent tarnish on skin and clothing. Colored gems were set in gold. Mounts or bezels for jewels were often set in a closed setting, a cut away setting, or a very early claw setting (often seen for early large pastes). The first two mountings show a good bit of metal and come up around the sides of the stone, encasing the stone in metal.

The earlier part of the century stylistically saw a more ornate form of jewelry, complex and frilly designs. As the years progressed and advanced into the next century, the forms turned to more neoclassical inspiration of simpler, geometric and formal derivation. It was also a great century for paste. Even Marie Antoinette has her own paste jewelers - it was not just for those who could not afford real gems. Some examples of the themes and motifs used in the earlier 18th century were bows, floral designs, giardinetti (garden), and feathers while later saw classical themes such as arrows, quivers, lyres, intaglios, and geometric forms.

Types of jewelry worn were the stomacher (a large element worn like a huge brooch at the center of the stomach just below the breasts and trailing down the front); aigrettes (elements for the hair); girandoles (three drop earrings); pendeloque earrings (a bow and drop); necklaces sometimes secured by ribbons; rings; slides - bracelets often worn in pairs usually slipped on a ribbon; chatelaines; and buckles and buttons - for men for shoes and breeches and clothing.

Victorian Antique Jewelry - Nineteenth Century Through 1830 - Antique Jewelry

Toward the end of the earlier century and into the next, wars tore through Europe and affected life and thus jewelry. Often gold and precious gems were in short supply as these items were given toward the war effort. Jewelry used less metal, sometimes very thin, and canetille came into use. Canetille using tiny wires wrapped to make a showier jewel with little metal. A romantic era arose, sentimental and mourning jewelry again became popular at the end of the 18th century and into the 19th. Regard rings, symbolic gems, tokens of affection, lockets of hair all found great popularity. Gems were small and less significant. Queen Victoria's reign brought about many changes in temperament and thus the jewelry and fashion followed suite ending a grand and elegant era in jewelry production.

For questions or more information, please visit www.georgianjewelry.com