Jewelry History


From archeological finds to museum galleries, explore jewelry and fabrication methods from many eras in our Jewelry History section.

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The Art of the Celtic Metalsmith

The Art of the Celtic Metalsmith

This research paper was presented at the Society of North American Goldsmiths Conference at Cranbrook Academy of Art in June,...
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Introduction to Basic Concrete Jewelry

Introduction to Basic Concrete Jewelry

Concrete is a wonderful, hard, neutral, unprecious material with a real presence. And it can be successfully adapted to jewellery....
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Cloisonne Primer – History of Cloisonne Technique

In the late 20s, a small enamel tray, made in China, introduced us to the word cloisonne. The material looked...
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Galalith – Jewelry Milk Stone

Galalith – Jewelry Milk Stone

In 1898, Wilhelm Krische, owner of a factory that made history books and a stone printing shop, patented one of...
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Modern Native American Jewelry

Modern Native American Jewelry

Long recognized for the ubiquitous turquoise and silver squash-blossom necklaces and concho belts, the traditional metalwork of the Southwest has...
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Gerda Flöckinger: First Lady of British Jewelry

Gerda Flöckinger: First Lady of British Jewelry

Starting in the early 1950s, Gerda Flöckinger worked to change the face of British jewelry. Others joined her fledgling crusade,...
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Ancient High Cultures: Jewelry, Talisman and Status Symbol

Ancient High Cultures: Jewelry, Talisman and Status Symbol

People have gazed at adorned ears for many millennia. Discoveries in tombs and old legends tel of how ears were...
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The Earliest Cloisonne Enamels

The Earliest Cloisonne Enamels

An island in the eastern Mediterranean, with a history of more than 8000 years, Cyprus was one of the earliest...
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History of Contemporary Canadian Jewellery

History of Contemporary Canadian Jewellery

The history of contemporary Canadian jewellery, like that of Canada itself, has struggled with the assimilation of foreign influences, economies...
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William Spratling: Creator of Modern Taxco Silver

William Spratling: Creator of Modern Taxco Silver

For the past 60 years, tourists visiting Mexico have sought distinctive silver jewelry and holloware, crafted by native artisans. Although...
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Moche Metalwork

Moche Metalwork

All that glitters attracts both the museum visitor and the archaeologist. Whether one is looking at tastefully displayed objects in...
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The Great Pectoral from Tolstaya Mogila

The Great Pectoral from Tolstaya Mogila

In 1971, excavations in a kurgan (grave mound) named Tolstaya Mogila – big barrow – in the city of Ordzonikidzhe...
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A Metalsmith’s Guide to Germany

A Metalsmith’s Guide to Germany

My trips to Germany in 1980 and 1982 were the most satisfying experiences in relation to my metalwork. They were...
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Georgian Cloisonne Enamel

Georgian Cloisonne Enamel

In the conditions of world globalization, a big part of modern mankind realized how important human ties are to their...
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Gold of Africa: Jewellery and Ornaments from Ghana

Gold of Africa: Jewellery and Ornaments from Ghana

Now this is a truly attractive book. One of those coffee table type books dripping with gorgeous National Geographic quality...
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The School for American Craftsmen (SAC)

The School for American Craftsmen (SAC)

The history of the School for American Craftsmen (SAC) can be seen as a microcosm of the history of the...
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A Metalsmith’s Guide to Rome

A Metalsmith’s Guide to Rome

Rome. Truly the eternal city, where every monument reflects simultaneously the past and the present. As Goethe so aptly states...
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The Art Treasures of the Thracians

The Art Treasures of the Thracians

To date, Orpheus and Spartacus are probably the best-known representatives of a people whose traces have been lost in history....
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Peruvian Jewelry Art and Metalwork

Peruvian Jewelry Art and Metalwork

Peru, Land of the Inca, the Sun Worshippers, Land of Gold (the "Sweat of the Sun"), Land of Silver (the...
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The Czar’s Gold Masterpieces

The Czar’s Gold Masterpieces

The Kremlin Armory houses unique collections of precious items that mirror the artistic wealth of the country and the relations...
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20th Century Swiss Jewelry Designs

20th Century Swiss Jewelry Designs

A representative cross-section of jewelry design in Switzerland in the last century, entitled "The Art of Jewelry in Switzerland in...
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Jewelry Gemstone Engraving Over the Passage of Time

Jewelry Gemstone Engraving Over the Passage of Time

The art of gem cutting (glyptics in Greek) is one of the oldest testimonies to how installed, fascinating miniatures can...
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History of Gemstone Engravings

History of Gemstone Engravings

The art of gem cutting (glyptics in Greek) is one of the oldest testimonies to how installed, fascinating miniatures can...
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The Arts and Crafts Movement

The Arts and Crafts Movement

"It is allowing machines to be our masters and not our servants that so insures the beauty of life nowadays."...
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The Cheapside Hoard

The Cheapside Hoard

A cache of treasures that had lain hidden for some 300 years was unearthed in 1912, during excavation work in...
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China’s Treasure Island

China’s Treasure Island

Golden, white, and rose-colored pearls of dubious quality dangle from her outstretched arms. At least 20 more strands are draped...
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Is There a Jewelry Avant-garde?

Is There a Jewelry Avant-garde?

The term avant-garde is freighted with baggage from its source in military language. Consider the implications of applying the idea...
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The Artemis Medallion

The Artemis Medallion

In northern Greece, sometime after the death of Alexander the Great, a master goldsmith fashioned this unusual medallion with its...
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Emergence of Modern Jewelry

Emergence of Modern Jewelry

The Jewelry Museum of Pforzheim possesses one of the most remarkable collections of modern jewelry. This exhibition of works, which...
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A Merchant Ship Full of Treasures

A Merchant Ship Full of Treasures

The merchant ship that sank off the coast of Turkey over 3,300 years ago and that divers salvaged in 10...
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Tibet Monasteries are Opening Treasure Chambers

Tibet Monasteries are Opening Treasure Chambers

In the middle of March, the spiritual leader of the Tibetans, the Dalai Lama, described the Chinese response to the...
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Late Twentieth-Century American Jewelry

Late Twentieth-Century American Jewelry

Signals: Late Twentieth-Century American Jewelry opened at Cranbrook Art Museum in November 1996 – a contemporary counterpart to Messengers in...
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In Memory of Olaf Skoogfors, 1930-1975

Olaf Skooglors died at the age of 45 on December 20, 1975. In memory of Olaf Skoogfors these excerpts were...
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Beyond Tradition

Beyond Tradition

Bernadette Rodriguez-Caraveo confounds expectation. Just when it seems her work can be pigeonholed – as typically Hispanic devotional art, as...
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Funk Art Jewelry

Funk Art Jewelry

In Objects: USA, the chapter on jewelry bears witness to the hallowed names of modern history. The collective effort of...
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The Once and Future Sapphire

The Once and Future Sapphire

Andranondambo countryside, southern Madagascar, 1994 Imagine a gently hilled plain, covered with a beautiful baobab forest, surrounded by an arc...
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Venezuelan Enamel History and Projection

Venezuelan Enamel History and Projection

Among the representatives of this speciality who dedicated their lives to the enamel, is the author of this article. She...
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White Treasure with Rarity Value

White Treasure with Rarity Value

Platinum, in many regards an extraordinary precious metal, was given its name by Spanish conquistadors in about 1580: “platina,” which...
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Eastern Europe, Sorrow

Eastern Europe, Sorrow

*On the hard ground of Birkenau a tiny button sparkles, reflecting the unshed tears in my eye. I kneel down...
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Historic Kitsch

Historic Kitsch

The unfettered joy of an eccentric mix of styles from historical epochs - with no consideration of rules of combination...
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Forging Modernist

Forging Modernist

“The only work that counts,” she added with her quick smile, “is, of course, that which affords the opportunity for...
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Egypt’s Sunken Treasures

Egypt’s Sunken Treasures

Underwater archaeology reigns supreme. Until now mainly disregarded as treasure seekers, modern methods have enabled diving researchers to delve into...
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Scandinavian Design: A Myth is Unraveled

Scandinavian Design: A Myth is Unraveled

The message was a revolution. While the wounds of the Second World War were eased in Europe using conciliatory kitsch...
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Japanese Esthetics on American Crafts

Japanese Esthetics on American Crafts

Undeniably, American crafts of the 20th century have been influenced by Japanese esthetics. From raku to mokumé, American crafts would...
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Pocket Watch in the Year 2025

Pocket Watch in the Year 2025

The history of the pocket watch started in the 15th century. Until then, blacksmith had fashioned the iron clockwork; however,...
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European Notebook 1994 Spring

European Notebook 1994 Spring

For your European correspondent it was Christmas in Brighton and then New Years in Paris – which is not the...
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6 Key Jewelry Trends 2014

6 Key Jewelry Trends 2014

It’s true that fashion is cyclical, as emerging trends are often reminiscent of days gone by. There is also a...
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