" ... the art and history of jewelry from the turn-of-the-century Art Nouveau to the International Style of the Eighties. Cartlidge has selected premier examples of jewelry created by over 200 artists and artisans, from Lalique and Fouquet to de Patta and Fisch, to best reflect the customs, sociopolitical structure, and traditions of several generations. Included are detailed descriptions of each of the pieces, along with their aesthetic and historical significance. The volume concludes with a brief section of artists' biographies."--LJ.

Spectacularly beautiful, this authoritative book presents jewelry designs of this century. With almost two hundred full-color photographs specially commissioned for this book and archival pictures of pieces that have disappeared into private collections, the volume features the finest artworks in precious metals and jewels from collections around the world, including creations by Lalique, Cartier, Boucheron, Bulgari, Tiffany, and David Webb. The fascinating text surveys the glittering world of gems with an illustrated introductory essay investigating the development of jewelry design at the end of the 1800s, and the shift from Victorian and Art Nouveau works to pieces stamped with the personality and vision of a single designer. The next chapter thoroughly examines the successive revolutions in style of the twentieth century. The balance of the book is a cornucopia of photographs portraying pieces from the beginning of the century through the 1960s: the grand era of commissions and patrons. Here you will find the Duchess of Windsor's famous necklace of diamonds and rubies as well as a fabulous pin in the shape of a World War II tank, and a veritable menagerie of diamond-studded elephants, enameled tigers, and jade dragons. This thorough history is a dazzling jewelbox of a book.

Discusses the specific ways in which jewelry fashions reflected the socio-political changes of the last century, citing such periods as the affluent 1920s, the war years, and the technological advances that enabled new design innovations.

"Through meticulous research, this book explores the Italian twentieth-century jewelry and goldsmithing landscape. This is the first time the topic is investigated in such a comprehensive manner, having previously only been dealt with limitedly to specific producers or production areas. Following the evolution of an art that is the result of millenary stratifications, this volume contains over three hundred images illustrating jewelry produced between 1900 and 1990. The chapters follow a chronological order and systematically look at the political and economic events influencing the fate of jewelry, as well as the fashion, the role of women, the artistic and architectural experiences, and the tastes of the time. Alongside the most prominent maisons feature less-known jewelers of doubtless creativity and artistic quality. Detailed biographies of each of the jewelers mentioned are included at the end of the volume"--Back cover.

Aiming to spotlight areas of collectability—mainly from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries—which are available to enthusiasts today, this is an important study of both well-known and forgotten jewelry fashions and trends. Each chapter—there are 22 in this second edition—concentrates on a specific topic, but there is a comprehensive cross-referencing to other chapters. Almost every item shown has been on the market in recent years. No other jewelry book reflects the antique jewelry market or collectors’ enthusiasms in quite the same way. Among the types of jewelry covered are diamond brooches, coral 19th-century gold work, piqué, silver jewels, cameos and intaglios, mosaics, Edwardian pendants, and unusual materials. "Theme" jewelry is another area described with an amazing variety of representations of animals or flowers, as well as Victorian Scottish jewelry and 19th-century archaeological revival jewels inspired by the goldwork of the Greeks, Etruscans, or ancient Egyptians. The work of individual artist-jewelers, who played such an important part in the Art Nouveau and Art Deco movements, is documented, along with the glamorous, highly sought after jewels created by the great jewel houses like Cartier, Tiffany, Falize, and Van Cleef & Arpels. Finally the important "movements"—Arts and Crafts; Art Nouveau, including Liberty’s huge output; and Art Deco—are assessed. Newly added is a chapter on Retro Modern—the cocktail jewelry for the 1940s—the best of which has become eminently collectable.

Schreiner is a luxurious book offering a first concise history of one of North America's foremost designers of high-end costume jewelry, a genre of jewelry popularized by Coco Chanel and today one of the most collectible. Created in New York City by founder Henry Schreiner in 1932, the eponymous company flourished during the early 1940s. During the 1950s under the leadership of Henry's daughter, the company's unusual color combinations, hand-made settings, and use of custom-made stones set them apart from their contemporaries, leaving behind a legacy for jewelry experts and admirers to study, covet, and collect to this day. For thousands of collectors of Schreiner worldwide, Schreiner provides valuable insight into their collections from the family itself. With hundreds of breathtaking photographs, the breadth of the Schreiner oeuvre is explicated, from the somber years of the Great Depression through the rise of the American ready-to-wear industry. Through the optimistic yet conforming 1950s, the youthful antiestablishment of the 1960s, and the feminist movement of the 1970s, the designs and materials of these pieces reflect the moods and mores of the decades in which they were made. And for the very serious Schreiner collector, the book explores common characteristics employed in the construction of Schreiner designs aiding collectors in the task of identifying unsigned Schreiner jewelry. This volume examines not only the cultural context and significance of Schreiner jewelry but also offers object-based analyses and archival documentation of various Schreiner pieces.