Victorian Jewellery – A Brief History

The Allure Of Victorian Jewellery

The period from 1837 to 1901 is known as the Victorian era when Queen Victoria was the queen of Great Britain and Ireland. Her reign, which lasted for more than 63 years, is second only to Queen Elizabeth II, was arguably the most important periods in the history of Great Britain, due to its industrial development, prosperity, and a long period of peace. 

The history of Victorian jewellery is an extensive one, where the popular styles of the time had connections to the different stages of the monarch’s life. It was a well-known fact that Queen Vitoria adored her husband, Prince Albert, a fact that had an enormous influence on the most famous jewellery fashions and trends of the time.

The Early Victorian era

Known as the “Romantic” period, the early Victorian era was when the queen and Prince Albert were courting, and finally getting married in 1840. The jewellery styles of this time consisted of extremely romantic motifs like hearts, hands, knots, and crosses. These romantic themes were used in most engagement rings as well as other romantic jewellery since they symbolised an eternal bond between the two people in the relationship.

 

Most of the popular themes used in Victorian jewellery, were sentimental responses against the Age of Reason, a movement that began long before the 1800s. Both the romantic and industrial revolutions had huge influences on the fashions that became prominent in the Victoria era. 

 

Mass-produced and cheaper

The industrial revolution led to jewellery being cheaper to manufacture, which resulted in thousands of pieces being mass-produced. More jobs were created during this time too, which led to a new social class being developed, namely the lower middle class. With more people earning money, it became possible for more of the Victorian public to spend money on material items such as jewellery.

 

Nature-inspired

Inspiration from nature returned, with flower-related motifs becoming extremely popular. Craftsmen of the time were perfectionists and created every petal and leaf to look as realistic as possible. There was also a wide variety of settings of mounts during this time, with carving, chasing, and engraving increasing in popularity and coloured gold becoming the favourite choice of inlay metal with many people.

Nature-related themes like flowers, snakes, and birds also became popular during this era. Unlike today, where snakes are seen as deceitful creatures, they were believed to be a symbol of eternity, and jewellery items depicting snakes were instead, seen as a promise of eternal love between two people.

 

Incorporation of past cultures

There were many aesthetic similarities between the jewellery of this period, and the popular styles of the past, including Ancient Egyptian, Ancient Greek, and Medieval. The basics of these past cultures were studied for the first time during the Victorian era, with many jewellery pieces of the time including hints of the styles and motifs of those past cultures.

 

Coral was also hugely popular during this time, to make cameo jewellery. After being harvested in the Mediterranean, the jewellery pieces were mass-produced in Naples, and shipped to England afterward, to be finished off by the jewellers in England.

 

This of course, created prosperous trade relations between England and Italy, but because of mass-production, the general quality of the cameos was quite low. Samples of existing good quality cameo jewellery is extremely hard to come by these days.

 

The Middle Victorian era

Frequently referred to by those in the know as the “Grand” period, Victorian jewellery from this era is considered to be an expansion of the romantic era. Many of the themes that came about during the romantic period, also seemed to blossom during the middle Victorian era.

 

Lockets - with sections to keep photos of loved ones, became popular, as well as pieces with rope designs, probably because of their intertwined pattern signifying a romantic link between two people.

 

Opals were discovered during the earlier part of the 19th century, which created a kind of explosion in opal jewellery, specifically in black opals. The cabochon cut was the most common style for opals and increased in popularity in the Victorian period. Every size of cabochon cut in a wide variety of stones were found in a variety of jewellery pieces.

 

Invention of the diamond saw

The cutting industry changed completely when the diamond saw was invented. The process became more mechanised and revolutionised the way stones were cut - diamonds in particular, with the marquise cut being the first to be introduced.

 

Different techniques

New inventions and discoveries also came about during this time. Painting techniques and middle-age enamelling, like champleve, encrusted enamelling, and cloisonne, was revived. Basse-taille, where translucent enamel is put over a relief design, also became popular.

 

Another form of enamelling, called plique-a-jour, was used at this time; the backing was removed from behind the enamel, letting the light shine through, to create a beautiful stained glassed effect.

 

The growth of silver and Celtic jewellery

It was during the middle Victorian era that Queen Victoria developed an enormous love for the Highlands of Scotland. This enthusiasm caused a huge growth in popularity for silver jewellery, unique additions like mounted grouse claws, as well as Celtic designs. The queen’s love of the wilderness also resulted in enormous popularity in pearls, which were found in rivers in Wales, Scotland, and the North of England.

 

The royal couple have always had a huge influence on the jewellery world. Prince Albert too had a part to play in the jewellery world. He was famous for wearing a heavy gold watch-chain that led people into referring to it back then as the “Albert” watch chain. That name is still used today.

 

Mourning jewellery

Things changed when Prince Albert died in 1861. Being as devoted to her husband as she was, Queen Victoria was devastated at his passing and began a deep phase of mourning. 

 

Wearing black during this time of mourning, her preferences in jewellery changed dramatically. She had an enormous influence on the Victorian public, which resulted in mourning jewellery becoming high fashion. Jet, onyx, agate, and other black gems were used in the mourning jewellery, with black enamel gaining popularity too, for those who could not afford the more expensive black gemstones.

 

Jet in particular, became incredibly popular during this mourning period. The demand for the gem was so enormous, that the deposits in the Whitby region, that had been worked since Neolithic times, were almost depleted completely, at the end of the 19th century.

 

The Late Victorian era

Also known as the “Aesthetic” period, the late Victorian era was the time when jewellery started to move away from the mourning period. Considered by the experts to be the era of “art for art’s sake”, the jewellery created during the aesthetic period consisted of a wide variety of art forms with elaborate detail and finery, that had no real significance to anything – it was created purely for eye appeal.

 

Late Victorian jewellery was lighter, smaller, and a lot daintier.

 

Turquoise was a huge favourite during this time and was many times used in place of pearls, to form a circular edging around a variety of cameos, enamel, and other larger gemstones. 

With the industrial revolution came cheaper jewellery

Due to the success of the industrial revolution, the demand for cheaper jewellery increased, so alternative ways and means had to be found to mass-produce as many items as possible, at a cost-effective price. Rolled gold was often used in place of real gold, and paste jewellery became common too, as a substitute for various other gemstones that were normally expensive.

 

With lighter, daintier jewellery items becoming popular, there was suddenly a market for smaller pieces of jewellery adorned with stunning stones like opals, amethysts, and diamonds. Gems from then on were chosen more because of their beauty, rather than their cost, a move that resulted in many different jewellery items being produced, that are these days, incredibly valuable, sought-after collectible items.

 

Chokers consisting of many strands became highly fashionable during the late Victorian era. This trend gained in popularity because of Queen Victoria’s daughter-in-law choosing to wear one to hide a scar on her neck.

 

In conclusion

There were many changes in jewellery styles and fashions during the Victorian era. Because of the Industrial Revolution, the growth of the British Empire, and the emergence of the middle class, more of the British public were able to buy material items like jewellery.

People also had the money to attend functions where they could flaunt their jewellery. Women specifically, were starting to be more active physically, politically, and socially, because society no longer demanded that they stay at home as it was normal for all good women to do.

The changes of jewellery through the Victorian era were dramatic, with each of them being influenced enormously by Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert. Today, many people go to great lengths to find and invest in pieces of well-kept pieces of jewellery for their collections.

In short, it is the intricacy, the fine detail, romanticism, and vibrancy attached to each piece, that makes Victorian jewellery the valuable, treasured pieces they have come to be. 

You May Also Like: What is Georgian Jewellery