Art Deco jewelry was popular beginning the start of World War I until around the start of World War II (1914-1939). Two primary styles of Art Deco jewelry design emerged during the decades of its popularity: Gemstone and Modernist. The Art Deco period was a time of innovation, discovery, and global transportation, and its jewelry reflected the spirit of the age.
Where did the term Art Deco come from?
Art Deco comes from the title of the 1925 Paris Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels. The aim of the exhibition was to display “works combining new inspiration with real originality.” The Deco of Art Deco is the decorative nature of the design.
The first time the actual phrase Art Deco was used, however, wasn’t until 1966.
Art Deco jewelry reached its height in 1925 during the first Paris Exhibition at the Musée des Arts décoratifs. However, Art Deco is often considered anything made between the two world wars.
The Art Deco period was a time of innovation, discovery, and global transportation.
During the 1920s, Charles Lindbergh flew across the Atlantic, and the car – a.k.a. the roadster – became a popular mode of everyday travel. King Tut’s tomb was discovered, and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was published.
Of note, Gatsby was published the same year as the 1925 Paris Exhibition, the height of Art Deco.
The Roaring Twenties also saw the rise of motion pictures and ushered in the Golden Age of Hollywood in the 1930s.
Art Deco’s Origins and Evolution
French designers in the late 1800s and early 1900s lamented Paris’ lost position as the apex of style. As a result, they were inspired to innovate. They turned to old methods and techniques that had been lost during the dominance of the machine age.
To those ancient techniques, designers were able to add the technical innovations of the industrial age.
Innovation in jewelry design like chromium plating, is at the heart of Art Deco jewelry, furniture art, and architecture.
The Major Difference between Art Nouveau and Art Deco
Art Nouveau style jewelry was popular from 1890 until just before the start of World War I. Its decline in popularity began around 1910. Art Deco began trending around the same time Art Nouveau lost traction, and continued to fascinate artists and consumers alike throughout the 1920s and 1930s.
Read more about the relationship between Art Deco and Art Nouveau in this post.
Other than the time period, if I were to name one major difference between Art Nouveau and Art Deco, it would be their geometries – how designers in each style imagined the line.
Art Nouveau is asymmetrical, sinuous, and organic. Its motifs are dynamic and emotive. For example, Art Nouveau artists adored the female form, with a focus on the curved body and flowing hair. Art Nouveau is known for its flowing ‘whiplash’ lines.
What is a Whiplash Line in Art Nouveau?
Imagine the lash of a whip as it curves up and out to strike. It has a beginning and an end like any line, but it’s fluid and curved, arced and asymmetric.
Art Deco on the other hand followed Cubism into the “school of the straight line.”
Much of the designs were inspired by tall, static skyscrapers. Even the curves of Art Deco are more contained and mechanical.
Art Deco’s curves weren’t simply curves, they were circles: closed and perfectly round.
One of the primary style traits of Art Deco jewelry was its attention to mechanics. Read more about Art Deco’s primary style traits in this post.
Styles of Art Deco Jewelry
Two primary styles of Art Deco jewelry design emerged during the decades of its popularity:
Art Deco Gemstone Jewelry
When we think about The Great Gatsby and scenes from the movie adaptation, it’s often the gemstone jewelry designs that come to mind. They’re elaborate, opulent, excessive, and far above the financial means of the average human.
Gemstone designs were popular during the Art Deco period because more and more people were accumulating wealth enough to purchase opulent jewelry. Diamonds and other precious stones were status symbols for the growing leisure class.
The consumption of gemstone jewelry fueled innovation. New technologies in cutting gems were developed, and the 1920s saw developments in cuts like the baguette and invention of the invisible setting.
Read more about technological advances in gemstone cutting and setting in this important post on what makes Art Deco’s gemstone jewelry different than other jewelry with gems from other eras.
If you can say one thing about Art Deco jewelry, it’s that you know it when you see it. The quintessentially deco elements of the 1920s-1930s aesthetic is arguably its modernity.
Moderne meant more than just new to the artists, designers, writers and thinkers of this period. It’s worth a read to understand the politics of the movement. But I’m looking to discuss jewelry. To simplify – it’s about, more and less, whether less was more.
Thus, for our sakes, Modernist jewelry is the bare geometric appeal of the Art Deco look we know so well.
Modernist Art Deco Jewelry
Modernist Art Deco jewelry showcases the “architectural spirit” of the age.
The qualities of what makes it “modernist” include:
- linear and interlocking geometries
- non-Western motifs
- new techniques like chrome plating
- synthetic materials like Oreum and Bakelite
Jewelry in the modernist style often still feels fresh today. Designers like Jean Dunand, Jean Fourquet, and Raymond Templier are examples of designers who produced jewelry in this style.
For a fuller accounting of Art Deco’s Modernist style, read this closer look at Jean Dunand and his gold replacement, Oreum.
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