London Arts And Fashion Stylish Jewellery 71

London Arts And Fashion Stylish Jewelry.

By Aamir mannan.

Arts and Crafts jewellers avoided large, faceted stones, relying instead on the natural beauty of cabochon (shaped and polished) gems. They replaced the repetition and regularity of mainstream settings with curving or figurative designs, often with a symbolic meaning.

Bracelet, François-Désiré Froment-MeuriceHair Ornament (Raggiera), Mark of Carlo PirottaPendant, Reinhold VastersBrooch with cameo of Queen Victoria, by Félix Dafrique; cameo by Paul Lebas (active 1829-70)Necklace and earrings, Nitot & FilsBracelet, probably made by Charles Riffault for Frederic Boucheron.  Developing in the last years of the 19th century, the Arts and Crafts movement was based on a profound unease with the industrialised world. Its jewellers rejected the machine-led factory system - by now the source of most affordable pieces - and instead focused on hand-crafting individual jewels. This process, they believed, would improve the soul of the workman as well as the end design.

Arts & crafts jewellery

Pendant-brooch (detail), designed by C.R. Ashbee and made by the Guild of Handicraft, about 1900. Museum no. M.31-2005. © Victoria & Albert Museum, London 

Pendant-brooch (detail), designed by C.R. Ashbee and made by the Guild of Handicraft, about 1900. Museum no. M.31-2005. © Victoria & Albert Museum, London 

Bracelet, François-Désiré Froment-MeuriceHair Ornament (Raggiera), Mark of Carlo PirottaPendant, 

Reinhold VastersBrooch with cameo of Queen Victoria, by Félix Dafrique; cameo by Paul Lebas (active 1829-70)Necklace and earrings, Nitot & FilsBracelet, probably made by Charles Riffault for Frederic Boucheron.  Developing in the last years of the 19th century, the Arts and Crafts movement was based on a profound unease with the industrialised world. Its jewellers rejected the machine-led factory system - by now the source of most affordable pieces - and instead focused on hand-crafting individual jewels. This process, they believed, would improve the soul of the workman as well as the end design.