Antique Jewelry University

A Brief History of Gemstone Writings

Mary — Fri, 03 Feb 2023 18:02:39 +0000

from Gems in Myth, Legend and Lore by Bruce G. Knuth

References to gemstones appear in many ancient writings. They may be mentioned as decoration, a means of barter, a symbol of wealth, the source of power and magic or the objects of adoration. In these earliest records, the gem was auxiliary to the primary topic and not a subject in and of itself. It was not until the writings of Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) that the physical world and its constituent parts became worthy topics of study and documentation. Aristotle’s division of philosophy into separate branches— logic, metaphysics, physics, ethics, politics, and art led to the systematic study of nature. The natural world also was divided into parts or elements. These elements were earth, water, air, fire, and ether. Gems could then be classified and described in these terms and their properties recorded. The study of gems and minerals began with the recording of observations, documenting of sources, and the cataloging of legends and folklore. The first writings were attempts to compile all that was known at the time. Along the way, a mix of science and pseudo-science filled the works produced. As the understanding of the natural sciences grew, so did the sciences of mineralogy and gemology. The following is a brief chronology of these milestones in gem literature.

Origins

Theophrastus (ca. 372-287 B.C.), a student of Plato and successor to Aristotle as head of the Peripatetic school of philosophy, is credited with writing the first known treatise dedicated to gems. Of his Peri Lithon (Of Stones) only a fragment of the original work is preserved. This Aristotelian mix of physics and metaphysics is credited as the source for much of the lore passed along in latter works. The first English translation of Peri Lithon by John Hill is superseded by two modern translations, the first of these by E. R. Caley and J. F. C. Richards and the second by D. E. Eichholz.

Naturalis Historia, 1669 edition, title page. The title at the top reads: Volume I of the Natural History of Gaius Plinius Secundus.

The Roman author and historian Gaius Plinius Secundus, a.k.a. Pliny the Elder (23-79 A.D.) compiled the Naturalis Historia (Natural History) from a reported two thousand sources. This thirty-seven volume work, published in 77A.D., embraces the domain of natural history in the broadest sense. It includes astronomy, geography and meteorology. Beyond what is today considered natural history, it also includes fine arts, inventions, and human relations. It stands as the chief source from which future historians have obtained informative descriptions of life in the first century.

Much of Pliny’s information on gems was not written from direct observation. His studies were often a retelling from second-hand sources, now lost in antiquity. Many stones are lumped together by color, mining location, or attributes passed on in legends. His recounting of legends and myths, and assumptions drawn from these are the basis of much of the writing which appeared in the Middle Ages. He became the most often quoted writer on the subject, and his information was relied upon and repeated without question in book after book. In the first thirteen centuries of European history, little scientific information was added to the limited knowledge of gems garnered from Pliny’s accounts. However, many later authors embellished the writings and added their own speculations and unwarranted conclusions.

Pliny is credited with his attempts to classify gems according to color and observable external characteristics. This led to the practice of assigning the attributes of one stone to all stones of similar color or appearance. The green stones named smaragdus in Latin are prime examples. Pliny classified most green stones as varieties of emerald. In all, twelve varieties are listed; green sapphire, turquoise, smithsonite, malachite, jasper, and even glass are identifiable by his descriptions. He also is credited with making some astute classifications. It is thought that he was the first to recognize the connection between beryls and emeralds.

Beryls are the same nature as emeralds, or at least very similar.¹

Some of the stones grouped by Pliny share little in common. It is obvious that some of his “observations” were gathered through other’s eyes. Errors in translation or reliance on oral tradition may have led to the inclusion of misinformation about stones that Pliny was not able to observe in nature.

Since the original Latin version, over two hundred and fifty editions of his classic have been published in numerous languages. The first complete edition of Natural History was published in Venice in 1469, and the first critical edition was offered by Hardouin in 1685. The most detailed study of Pliny’s gemstone accounts is a work by S. H. Ball.

Christian Lapidaries

Saint Epiphanius (ca. 315-420 A.D.), Bishop of Constantia in Cyprus, wrote the first treatise dealing with the gemstones mentioned in Biblical writings. This work served as a model for the treatment of Biblical gems in future lapidaries. It is also the first reference to the possible composition and significance of the twelve stones in the Breastplate of Aaron. Epiphanius is known to have traveled throughout the Eastern Mediterranean and studied in Egypt and Palestine. Lynn Thorndike writes that these early opinions concerning the stones of Aaron’s Breastplate:

…perhaps gives an excuse and sets the fashion for the Christian medieval Lapidaries.²

Dorothy Wyckoff states in her studies of lapidaries that even though the Church had banned the practice of heathen worship and superstitious practices:

Even devout Christians could not entirely shake off the old belief that precious stones possess some sort of supernatural powers or significance…. this interest was to some extent legitimized by focusing attention on the stones mentioned in the Bible, especially the two (different) lists of the “twelve stones”—those in the breastplate . . . and those in the foundations of the New Jerusalem.³

The entire text of Epiphanius’ Biblical Lapidary was first placed in print as part of De Omne Rerum Fossilium by Conrad Gesner of Zurich in 1565. Noted for the fervor in his writings, Epiphanius had been quoted and referenced by numerous authors centuries prior to this first complete publication.

Isidore, Bishop of Seville (ca.560-636), was the leading clergyman of his day and exerted a great deal of influence over the thought and literature of the Middle Ages. His Etymologiarum sive Originum Libri XX (Etymologies) was an encyclopedic work containing more than one thousand manuscripts dealing with the collected knowledge of the day. The Etymologies was intended to serve as a dictionary rather than an encyclopedia or instructional manual. His descriptions, classifications, and attributes given to many gems made his writings the standard reference for scholars into the twelfth century and beyond. This work is often referred to by later writers who explore the subject of gems and minerals.

The eleventh century Bishop of Rennes is known by a variety of names; Marbod, Marbodei, or Marbodus followed by the names Redonensis or Andecavensis. Commonly referred to as Marbod, this medieval scholar lived from about 1035-1123. His Libellus de lapidibus, a.k.a. Lapidaire en Vers, is considered the most important and influential work of its kind. The chronicler of Marbod, Lynn Thorndike, calls it:

…the classic on the subject of the marvelous properties of stones.⁴

These poetic works were so popular that more than one hundred and sixty manuscripts were prepared in Latin and several translations were written in the vernaculars of the day.

The text consists of seven hundred and thirty-four hexameters concerning sixty kinds of stones. It is prefaced by twenty-three lines describing the source of information as Damigeron or Evax, king of Arabs. F. D. Adams states that it is:

…the earliest lapidary of the Middles Ages, and also the one which is quoted most widely.⁵

The first published text appeared in Vienna in 1511.

The entire work may be divided into five sections according to Adams. The first deals with twenty-six mythical stones and is so obscure that little connection can be made with known minerals. The second section describes stones of animal or organic origin. The third category includes four stones which may be distinguished as separate recognizable minerals. Descriptions of fourteen quartz varieties characterize the fourth section, and fifteen other recognizable minerals make up the final listing. This last grouping contains little in the way of physical characteristics, but is filled with legend and lore of these gems. Marbod attributes his knowledge of the magical properties of stones to Evax.

Despite its standing as a primary reference, Marbod’s writings rely on information from other earlier writers. Little material is included that had not appeared in the works by Solinus (third century Roman grammarian and author of geographic compilations) and Isidore. The geographic information listed by Solinus is attributed to his studies of Pliny.

Albertus Magnus (1193-1280) Bishop of Ratisbon, teacher and lecturer is noted for his application of science and the scientific method to theology. He served as a teacher at the University of Paris and counted Thomas Aquinas as one of his students. Magnus is known as one of the founders of the school of Scholasticism and believer in reason as a supplement to faith. He made Aristotelian thought intelligible to Latin scholars. His De Mineralibus is characterized by Dorothy Wyckoff as:

…an impressive attempt to organize the science of mineralogy.⁶

The primary criticism has been that it still included a great deal of superstition and speculation. The first printed version appeared in Padua in 1476. Adams states:

(De Mineralibus is) one of the best and most comprehensive of the western medieval lapidaries . . . enlarges at length on their mystical and wonder-working powers and virtues.⁷

This lapidary has been lauded for its attempt to explain the formation of minerals and gemstones, the causes of their color, and other physical properties.

16th Century Plate – Lapidus.

The great writer and thinker of the thirteenth century, Alfonso X the Learned (1221-1284 A.D.), King of Castile and Leon, composed the first major work on astrology and gemstones. His principle object was to demonstrate the connections of gemstones and other minerals to celestial bodies. The astrological tables he devised were based on Arabic translations and were calculated for the Toledo Meridian. These tables, however, became the standard for all of Europe for centuries. The text was extensively illuminated and illustrated.

Alfonso classed gems by color and placed each under one of the twelve zodiac signs. Remarks on properties, uses, and medicinal virtues for each stone were included with attention paid to how these virtues are influenced by the planets and stars. His writings serve as a model for the connections between gems and astrological signs to the present day.

Introduction of the Scientific Method

Camillus Leonardus, physician of Pesaro, Italy, gathered information from previously published works, but used scientific methods to distinguish gems. His findings were published under the title Speculum Lapidum in 1502 and republished in England under the title Mirror of Stones in 1750. Leonardus treated physical properties, hardness, specific gravity, compactness, color, form, and geographic origins more thoroughly than previous works. He held that the virtues, medicinal use, and properties of gems was imparted or enhanced by having their surfaces engraved with suitable symbols and signs. He further stated that some powers attributed to gems existed only by such engraving.

The Science of Mineralogy

A Nobleman Looks for Gems and Minerals with a Divining Rod, an Old Practice Alluding to the Energies Emitted by Gems. An Illustration from De Re Metallica by Georgius Agricola.

Georgius Agricola (1494-1555) has been called the father of mineralogy. His De Natura Fossilium (1546) is considered one of the most important mineralogical/gemological works of all time. Unlike his predecessors, he provided comments of considerable accuracy on the nature, properties, and treatment of gemstones. The descriptions indicate a first-hand knowledge of many of the gems listed. It is evident that he relied on the writings of Pliny to describe stones of which he had no personal knowledge.

He also:

…asserted that minerals and certain rocks originated from petrified juices.⁸

He makes reference in his text to scratch tests for hardness and includes descriptions of physical characteristics and characteristic flaws of many gems. These physical descriptions have proved to be quite precise, even under today’s standards.

The Title Page of Gesner’s Essay on Gemstones, A Portion of a Larger Work Published in 1565.

De Omne Rerum Fossilium (1565) is a compilation by Conrad Gesner (1516-1565) of eight works on gemstones. It contains Epiphanius’s treatise on Biblical stones, as well as Fanciscus Rueus’ De Gemmis Aliquot, a general treatise on stones published in 1547. It also contains an original writing by Gesner, Lapidum et Gemmarum, which classified stones by their external characteristics into fifteen categories. Its publication marked the first time a purely mineralogical work was illustrated with woodcuts of minerals, crystals, fossils, and cut gems.

The work perpetuates the classification and naming of stones by color and the tradition of differentiating within classes by place names. In his system true emerald is called “Occidental emerald”, tourmaline is called “Brazilian emerald”, green sapphire is “Oriental emerald”, and yellow or orange sapphires are called “Oriental topaz”. The tradition of using these misnomers has continued in the jewelry trade to the present day.

Gemmarum et Lapidum Historia (1609) by Anselmus Boëtius de Boodt (ca. 1550-1632) is one of the landmarks in lapidaries. It deals with gems from the New World and compares them to those available in Europe and Asia. De Boodt lists five degrees of hardness in stones and speculates concerning the existence of a distinct atomic structure in minerals. His treatise gathers together information which demonstrates the best scientific knowledge of the day. He cites material he borrowed from other writers and adds new observations. His position as physician to the royal court of Rudolph II of Prague gave him the opportunity to study numerous gems first-hand. He also expresses skepticism over the mystical and medicinal virtues of gems and minerals. His writings demonstrate advances in the science of gemology and show a greater understanding than writers who preceded him. Adams calls de Boodt’s writings:

…in many respects the most important lapidary of the seventeenth century.⁹

Musaeum Metallicum in Libros IV Distributum by Ulyssis Aldrovandi (1522-1605) was published posthumously in 1648. It is an illustrated text on the mineral kingdom. Little or no new information is included, but the term geoligia of geology appears for the first time in the context it is used today. With this work, the field of gemology split into two distinct disciplines; the science of mineralogy and the romance and lore of gemstones.

The gemological historian, F. D. Adams, closed his chapter on medieval mineralogy with a discussion of Aldrovandi’s work by stating:

Medieval mineralogy in fact is not a science . . . . not a solid tower of learning . . . but a fairy castle, the insubstantial fabric of a dream, often quaint and even beautiful, but destined to crumble away because it had no foundation in reality . . . it was now to be succeeded by a true science of mineralogy built upon the basis of close observation and diligent study of the materials of the earth’s crust.¹⁰

Nearly three centuries of gemology have followed this tradition.

The first major work published in English is by Thomas Nicols and carries the curious title A Lapidary: or, the History of Pretious Stones, with Cautions for the Undeceiving of All Those That Deal with Pretious Stones(1652). Nicols describes in detail gems and their imitations, glass replicas, and the use of foil as a backing agent. The essays list supernatural characteristics of gems and gives the causes and methods of detection for these phenomena. Nicols cited de Boodt as a primary source, but his research did add some new information.

Robert Boyle (1627-1691), English philosopher, chemist, and physicist, wrote An Essay About the Origine and Virtues of Gems in 1672. It was considered the most scientific work possible in its time. It covers the formation of minerals and their crystals. Important new work was included on crystal formation and crystallization from solutions as reported by direct observation. Minor remarks were made on the impossibility of the medicinal uses of gems due to their insolubility. Boyle doubted the ability of gems to have a remedial affect, but admitted that some soluble minerals may be of benefit. He also mentioned the use of hydrostatic weighing (specific gravity) to ascertain a gem’s density and the measuring of refractive properties as means of separation and identification.

London physician Dr. Robert Pitt continued observations on the medicinal value of gems in his 1703 book, The Craft and Frauds of Physick Expos’d. This second work on the theme of medication was:

…written to show the small cost of the really useful drugs, the worthlessness of some expensive ones, and the folly of taking too much physic. The book gives a clear exposition of the therapeutics of that day, and is full of shrewd observation.¹¹

Pitt reiterated the insolubility of gems and the fact that this would make it impossible for them to affect the body. He gave as proof the example of stones ingested by birds. He observed that they are passed without any change in color or shape.

Modern Gemology

The early eighteenth century saw the fields of mineralogy and geology adopted as pure sciences. The introduction of better record-keeping and specialized tools led to more accurate and reliable information. Writings in these areas concentrated on careful observation, chemical and physical experimentation, and the documentation of the results. From the eighteenth to the twentieth century a vast amount of technical data was gathered.

Gemology, however, relied upon the retail jewelry industry for any research or study. Since legend, lore, and the romance of gems was perceived to be “good for business,” research was in this specialized area. Published information did little to expand on limited knowledge which had existed for centuries.

The research and writings of Dr. George Frederick Kunz in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century revived interest in the study of gems. His work cataloging the gems of North America, as consultant to Tiffany’s, and as founder and curator of the mineral collections at the American Museum of Natural History, brought gemology to a new level. His technical writings gained little public notice, but his compilations of ancient pseudoscience—The Curious Lore of Precious Stones (1913) and The Magic of Jewels and Charms (1915)—have remained popular works.

Robert M. Shipley’s founding of the Gemological Institute of America in 1931 and the American Gem Society in 1934 brought professionalism to gemology and the jewelry industry. These educational and trade organizations continue to bring standardized and reliable information to jewelers and consumers. The GIA quarterly publication, Gems and Gemology, is a primary source of the most current research on gems and their characteristics.

Over two thousand years of speculation, research, and writings have been collected by these scholars. The sciences of gemology and mineralogy have grown from infancy and become more and more sophisticated. Physics, chemistry, biology, and medicine have all experienced great changes over two millennia. The study of gems and their properties has contributed to all of these sciences.

The approach of the third millennium has seen a renewed interest in the powers and virtues of gems. The use of gems and minerals as healing agents, personal protectors, and conduits to other realms of consciousness has gained great popularity. Mysticism and metaphysics remain strong influences in the lives of many, but misinformation and confusion abounds. Modern authorities profess great insights regarding gems and their uses, but a great deal of the information being disseminated does not recognize the knowledge of the past and the foundations of gem study. As one explores the collected wisdom of these great men, it is evident that there is much yet to be understood.

Notes

GIA Colored Stones Course lesson 29 (Santa Monica, California: Gemological Institute of America 1980) p.2
John Sinkankas, Emerald and Other Beryls (Prescott, Arizona: Geoscience Press 1989) p.24.
Sinkankas, p. 24.
Lynn Thorndike, A History of the Magical Experimental Sciences vol. I (New York: Columbia Press, 1923) p.174.
Sinkankas, p. 26.
Dorothy Wyckoff, Albertus Magnus Book of Minerals (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1967) p.309.
F. D. Adams, The Birth and Development of the Geological Sciences (Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1938) p.309.
Joseph R. Strayer, editor, Dictionary of the Middle Ages vol. I (American Council of Learned Societies, 1982) p.36.
Adams, p.420.
Adams, p.424.
Sinkankas, p.46.

A History of Diamond Cutting

Mary — Fri, 03 Feb 2023 18:05:44 +0000

Diamond Cuts & Shapes

Pre-Roman Diamonds

Exodus 28:15 – 28:18

You shall make a breastpiece of judgment, in skilled work. In the style of the ephod you shall make it—of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen shall you make it. It shall be square and doubled, a span its length and a span its breadth. You shall set in it four rows of stones. A row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle shall be the first row and the second row an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond. Exodus 28:15 – 28:18

This reference has caused people to believe that diamonds were known in biblical times. But the ‘diamond’ comes from the erroneous translation of the Hebrew yahalom and Greek adamas.

The early history of the diamond is shrouded in mystery. When the first diamonds started playing a role in the lives of humans is simply unknown. Looking at the available literature the same thing keeps popping up: accurately translating ancient texts is very difficult. Two words which often have been translated into diamond, the Hebrew יהלום (yahalom – derived from halam which means to beat) and the Greek αδάμας (adamas which means indomitable or invincible) have caused confusion.

When we read the old testament we encounter several diamonds ¹ but their existence is solely based on the translation of the Hebrew yahalom. The word was used to indicate an extremely hard mineral, that is certain, but assuming that it was actually referring to diamond is a modern thought. We know that diamond is the hardest substance on earth but was it known as the hardest in biblical times too?

Greek literature indicates the same issue. The use of the word adamas, for instance by Plato, has been seen as an indication of diamonds being known to the Greeks but in fact, there is zero proof that this was the case. The word adamas was probably used to describe gold, Metals (Non-Noble) and perhaps even corundum.

Early gemological historians didn’t have access to (translated) Sanskrit texts so one hardly ever reads anything on India’s own historical sources on the use of diamonds. When diamonds became a part of our lives is unclear but where they entered is completely certain: in India.

An old Indian work, named the Arthasastra, which can be dated back to the 4th century BC gives us the first proper insight in when diamonds were first used. By then diamonds were known, traded and even taxed in India. The existence of diamond experts is mentioned together with a classification of diamond. This implies a rather thorough knowledge of the subject, something which could lead to the belief that diamonds were in use for quite some time by then.

Roman Diamonds

3rd Century, Roman “Pointed” Diamond Ring.
© The Trustees of the British Museum.

Diamonds were known to and worn by the Romans. They were highly prized as ring stones and a few rings containing uncut diamonds have survived and are now in the collection of The British Museum. Pliny writes about diamonds in his Naturalis Historia, calling them: ‘The substance that possesses the greatest value, not only among the precious stones but of all human possessions’. He doesn’t mention any fashioning of the stones at all. What he does note is the incredible hardness of diamonds and (probably without knowing) Pliny mentions its perfect cleavage:

These stones are tested upon the anvil, and will resist the blow to such an extent, as to make the iron rebound and the very anvil split asunder. Indeed its hardness is beyond all expression … When, by good fortune, this stone does happen to be broken, it divides into fragments so minute as to be almost imperceptible. These particles are held in great request by engravers, who enclose them in iron, and are enabled thereby, with the greatest facility, to cut the very hardest substances known.¹

Roman Ring Featuring Two Diamond Crystals.
© Trustees of the British Museum.

Some of the quote above certainly sounds like diamonds are being discussed but Pliny mentions a few things which don’t add up. This must indicate that he confused some other minerals with diamonds. Herbert Tillander, who has written an excellent book on the history of diamond cutting, expresses his doubts about the Romans having access to perfect crystals; the Indian suppliers would certainly have kept the better stones for the native market.

Diamonds were believed to protect the owner from all kinds of mishap and, for a long time, it was believed that this divine crystal would lose its powers when it was in any other state than the natural one. Cutting diamonds was as much a taboo as it was difficult in the Ancient times. Tillander suggests that diamond cutting started with removing mineral matter off the faces of freshly mined crystals, which makes perfect sense. Whether controlled cleaving was being performed is unknown. This is such a rudimentary practice that there were no technical limitations preventing the ancient people to apply it to their off-shaped diamond rough but historical or archaeological proof of any early cleaving lacks completely.

The Introduction of Diamond Cutting

After the decline of the Roman empire diamonds disappeared from European jewelry altogether. India was the only source of diamonds until the 18th century and the supply chain to Western Europe got disturbed by the lack of Roman merchants. The spread of Christianity had already subdued the popularity of the gem. The new religion condemned the superstitious attributes which had accompanied the stones. Contrary to the European situation, the gem retained its popularity in the Indian and Islamic world and it is in historic sources from these regions where interesting historical references are to be found.

The Ratnapariska by Bhudda Bhatta, an Indian text which, at least, dates back to the 6th century notes the following:

Wise men should not use a diamond with visible flaws as a gem; it can be used only for polishing of gems, and it is of little value.

Since polishing other gemstones with a full crystal isn’t feasible this text must have indicated the grounding up of bad quality diamonds in order to create diamond powder.

Our historical trip then takes us to the 10th century where Al-Biruni writes this:

…these people also say that it (the diamond) is the hardest amongst all precious stones and overcomes all other stones, yet the softest and least compact metal breaks it, that is, the lead which is wax like. …It (the lead) also pulverizes the diamond… When on grinding and pulverization its (the diamond’s) pieces get smaller the jewelers coat them with something that keeps the flies away.

Now, why is this so interesting? First, here we have reliable historical sources telling us that 6th-century Indian lapidary workers and 10th-century Islamic jewelers were grinding up diamonds in order to polish other stones. What is remarkable is that somewhere else in the same text Al-Biruni dismisses a stone from being a diamond because it’s crystal faces could be polished. This would imply that the polishing of diamonds with diamond dust wasn’t known yet by the 10th century.

Jack Ogden, a notable jewelry historian, reports to have seen Medieval Islamic jewelry that could be dated back to the 13th century which contains simple Table Cut diamonds.² These would be the oldest known cut diamonds in existence. Ogden’s report coincides with historical literature. An Indian text named the Agastimata, which unfortunately hasn’t been accurately dated but is believed to be written shortly after the 13th century AD, teaches us the following:

The diamond cannot be cut by means of metals and gems of other species; but it also resists polishing, the diamond can only be polished by means of other diamonds.

Europe

A Flemish Cutter ~1540 Using a Cutting Rig Which he Propels by Kicking a Wheel with his Feet.

European diamond cutting would have originated in Venice, shortly after 1330.³ This is indeed very likely since it was only after Venetian merchants started opening up the trade routes to the East that diamonds started trickling into Europe again. Whether cutting techniques were part of this new import to Europe isn’t clear but can be called plausible given the fact that both the practice of grinding poor quality diamonds to dust and the cleaving of diamonds were known by the men who were supplying the Venetians with diamonds: the Islamic merchants. Definite proof of where diamond cutting originated hasn’t been found yet, it could just as easily have been a European invention which backtracked the road the diamonds traveled.

Just as in Ancient times, perfectly shaped crystals would not have been reaching the West in any quantities. Their popularity in India would have caused the better samples to be preserved for the local market and the Islamic middle-men would certainly have picked the eyes out of the supply as well. Perhaps this is why Europeans started to cut diamonds? It is possible that the demand for perfect crystals and lack of such a supply triggered the start of diamond fashioning in Europe.

Technical limitations caused the first cutters to stick to what their rough allowed them to do. At first diamond cutting would have been nothing more than superficial polishing of the existing rough. The introduction of continuous rotary motion in craft tools in the 15th century enabled cutters to grind facets into diamonds with greater ease which expanded the possibilities. This triggered more creativity and a wider variety of cuts.

Transition

Following the Venetian re-opening of the East, the Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish and English naval explorations to all corners of the globe assured a new, and steady, influx of luxury goods into Europe. The Portuguese conquered the City of Goa in 1510, which they made the main diamond port of India. This enabled Europe’s diamond supply to grow considerably. Compared to the past, better rough would have been made available now that a direct line of supply was set up. It should be noted though that diamonds weren’t plentiful at all. Their status would have only risen from super rare to rare.

When, towards the end of the 15th century, the European economic center of gravity shifted from the Mediterranean to the North sea, Paris, Bruges, and Antwerp rose as the main polishing centers in Europe. The cutting communities there were very small ones and they were excluded from the Guild system, making it possible for Jews to participate in the trade and fashioning of the hardest stone on earth. The Northern European states had seen an influx of Jewish people from Portugal, Spain and later France due to the Christian extremist environment in those countries which eventually resulted in the Inquisition. It was within these new communities that the diamond trade and cutting techniques developed.

A Diamond Cutting Mill.

A diamond cutting mill is depicted here from a copper plate engraving made in 1720 based on a 16th-century description. The image shows that diamonds weren’t always ‘a girl’s best friend.’ By the end of the 15th-century diamond cutting changed. The crystal shape was no longer holy and cutting techniques improved which resulted in more creative cuts. Godehard Lenzen, a notable German gemologist, writes of a court document of the city of Augsburg in which a diamond is mentioned that weighed 11.50ct before polishing and only 5ct after. This weight loss illustrates the progress in shaping diamonds. Diamond cutting in the full sense of the word had made its entry.

The developments in the 16th century lead to a shift from a mere polishing of natural crystals to genuine ‘faceting’. The Rose Cut emerged and the early table cuts received extra facets on both the crown and pavilion to form an array of new cuts. Longer rectangular stones, named Hogbacks by Tillander formed a forerunner to the Baguette Cut and were extensively used to form letters and figures. Diamonds were cut to shape to be combined into Rosettes. The most popular cuts were the Table Cut and Point Cut. Examples are found in the images that have been left to us from 16th-century manuscripts such as Kleinodienbuch der Herzogin Anna von Bayern.

The cutting techniques of the 16th century have been extremely well documented by Benvenuto Cellini in The Treatises of Benvenuto Cellini on Goldsmithing and Sculpture from 1568 which reads:

Compare These 18th Century Diamond Working Tools with the References from Cellini’s Description.
1. Bruting
2. Container/Sieve to Collect Diamond Powder Produced by the Bruting.
3. Dopping.
4. Wheel & Quill
5. Polishing Rig.

Now for just a word about the cutting of the diamond, that is to say on the changing of the stone from its roughness into those lovely shapes so familiar to us, the Table, The Faceted & the Point. Diamonds you can never cut alone, you must always do two at a time on account of their exceeding hardness, no other stone can cut them; it is a case of diamond cutting diamond. This you do by means of rubbing one against the other until a form is obtained such as your skillful cutter may wish to produce (image 1), and with the diamond powder that falls from them in the process, the final polish is subsequently given (image 2). For this purpose, the stones are set in little cups of pewter (image 3) and held against a wheel by means of little pinchers prepared on purpose (image 4), and they are thus held with their dust mixed with oil. The steel wheel upon which the diamonds are cut and finished should be about the thickness of a finger & the size of an open hand and of the finest steel excellently tempered. This wheel is fastened to a hand mill and turned around as fast as it is possible to turn it. Four to five diamonds, or even six, can be applied to the wheel at the same time (image 5), and by bringing to bear a sufficiently heavy weight you can increase the pressure of the diamonds upon the wheel and give greater grip to the dust which wears them away, and so they are finished.

This extremely accurate and detailed account is of great value for us investigators of the history of diamond cutting. It teaches us that the technique of bruting, be it in a very primitive form, was known and applied by 16th-century cutters. In summary, by the16th-century the bruting, faceting and polishing had been mastered by European cutters.

Grinding

There are a few physical properties of diamond you should know about to properly understand diamond cutting. The first is in addition to what you probably already know: the diamond is the hardest substance on earth and can only be cut by diamond itself. The addition to this knowledge is that a diamond has ‘directional hardness’. It is harder in certain directions than it is in others. The sides of an octahedral crystal, for instance, are harder than dodecahedral planes. Note that hardness, when it is used in a gemological context, stands for the ability to withstand scratching, not its ability to withstand blows. The easiness with which a stone breaks falls under the gemological heading of ‘toughness’.The ease with which a facet can be introduced into a rough diamond depends on the orientation of that facet in regard to the crystallographic planes. Diamond dust consists of millions of particles which, when they are applied on a cutting wheel, are spread out with random crystallographic orientations. Some will be hitting the stone on which the cutter is working with their softest direction and have no impact whatsoever, some with the hardest and will slowly cause the facet to be formed. The relative ease with which a facet can be introduced depends on its orientation to the crystallographic planes of relative hardness. In some directions, more particles will be effective than others. This causes some restrictions to cutters. The octahedral crystal faces, for instance, lie in planes of great relative hardness and are therefore virtually impossible to be polished. Very few particles in the diamond dust would be effective. Cutters, therefore, have to introduce facets on planes which differ a few degrees from the harder crystallographic planes.

Cleaving

The Cleaving Directions in an Octahedral (left) and Dodecahedral (right) Diamond Crystal.

The second property of diamond which greatly influences diamond cutting is that of cleavage. Of all minerals diamond scores the highest on the hardness scale but it doesn’t score as high on the toughness scale. Diamond has perfect cleavage which means that its crystal structure allows extremely smooth fractures to occur when force is applied in the appropriate directions.The introduction of cleaving diamonds in order to shape them prior to faceting and polishing is believed to have its origins in the 16th century. Breaking up diamonds into sharp fragments to be used for engraving had been known since antiquity and an Islamic publication by Ahmad ibn Yasuf al Tifaschi from the mid 13th century mentions the perfect cleavage in diamonds but the use of cleaving in gem cutting appears to be a post-medieval invention. De Boodt mentions it in his 1600 AD publication Gemmarum et Lapidum Historia. That this technique was probably known earlier in India can be deduced from J.B. Tavernier who wrote in 1665:

…when the miners see a stone in which there is a flaw of some size, they immediately cleave it, that is to say split it, at which they are much more accomplished than we are.

The apexes which can be knocked off dodecahedral crystals presented the diamond cutters with flat, naturally faceted slivers of rough. These thin bits of diamond formed the earliest Rose Cuts which, over time and after some evolution, became extremely fashionable until well into the 20th century. Another example of fashioning by cleaving is the Shield Cut, which is basically half an octahedron. In addition to the above, it is worth mentioning that facets need to be placed in planes which differ a few degrees from cleavage planes in order to take a good polish. When a facet lies parallel to a cleavage plane it will not take a satisfactory polish due to microscopic flaking of the surface.

Sawing

Finally, a new craft was added to the repertory of cutting techniques: that of diamond sawing. This addition to cutting techniques completed all the stages in diamond cutting as we know it today: cleaving, sawing, grinding and polishing. The method, described by de Laet in his 1647 lapidary De gemmis et lapidibus: libri duo consisted of dressing a thin wire with diamond powder mixed with oil and running the wire across the stone. This extremely labor intensive method was used until well into the 19th century but of course, cleaving was preferred given its relatively easy use.

Indian Diamond Cutting

We can’t speak about diamond cutting without getting into J.B. Tavernier’s travel accounts which have been bundled into his Six Voyages of Jean Baptiste Tavernier in which he provides a great insight into Indian diamond fashioning of the 17th century through his illustrations and text:

…the mill was like ours, the large wheel of which was turned by four blacks. The Indians do not agree with us in believing that weighting them causes flaws in the stones. If theirs do not receive any it is because they always have a small boy who holds in his hand a very thin wooden spoon, with which he anoints the wheel incessantly with oil and diamond powder. Added to which their wheel does not go so fast as ours, because the wooden wheel which causes the steel one to revolve is seldom more than 3 feet in diameter.The Indians are unable to give the stones such a lively polish as we give them in Europe; this, I believe, is due to the fact that their wheels do not run so smoothly as ours. For, being made of steel, in order to grind it on the emery, of which it has need every twenty-four hours, it has to be taken off the tree, and it cannot be replaced so as to run as evenly as it should do. If they possessed the iron wheel like ours, for which not emery but the file is required, it is not necessary to remove it from the tree in order to file it, and they could give the stones a better polish than they do. I have stated that it is necessary to rub the wheel with emery or to file it every twenty-four hours, and it is desirable that this should be done every twelve hours if the workman is not lazy. For when the stone has run a certain time, the part of the wheel where it has pressed becomes polished like a mirror, and if the place be not roughened by emery or the file, the powder does not stick to it. When it does adhere more work can be done in one hour than in two when there is none on the wheel. Although a particular diamond may be by nature hard, having, so to speak, a kind of knot, one such as is seen in wood, the Indian diamond-cutters would not hesitate to cut such a stone, although our diamond-cutters in Europe would experience great difficulty in doing so, and as a general rule would be unwilling to undertake it ; but the Indians are paid something extra for their trouble.

The product of the Indian style of cutting has been named the Mughal Cut. The term Mughal Cut is better understood to be describing ‘a diamond cut in India in the 16th, 17th or 18th century’ rather than a certain shape or arrangements of facets.

Baroque Roses and Brilliants

Roses

A Full Rose-Cut Diamond Diagram.

As said before the Rose cut was developed into a more standardized version during the late 16th century. The Belgian and Dutch cutters specializing in this cut were turning thinner bits of rough into the ‘new’ standard Rose; a flat-bottomed gem with a crown covered in diamond-shaped facets. These new Roses increased in popularity over the second half of the seventeenth century and increased in thickness when its popularity allowed bulkier rough to be used for this cut. Their dome shape became higher and higher as their popularity grew.

The Birth of the Brilliant

A new perception of what a diamond should look like slowly emerged over the 17th century. The candle-lit dinner parties of the Baroque era demanded a more sparkling design, something that could complement the Rose Cut stones: brilliants.

The Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond.
Image Courtesy of Christie’s Images, 2008

Thinking that these brilliants resembled the modern round brilliant is a mistake though. The first brilliants were anything but symmetrical and had all sorts of outlines, depending on the rough they were fashioned from. Dodecahedral rough would yield stones with a roundish outline, octahedral rough square ones. The terms square and round should be taken with a grain of salt here, ’round’ was rarely truly round and ‘square’ almost always involved the shape we nowadays refer to as ‘cushion’, a squarish outline with rounded corners. What they do have in common with the brilliant cut as we know it is that it was a pavilion based cut (meaning that the bulk of the weight is in the lower part of the stone) with triangular and diamond-shaped facets on both its crown and pavilion.

Other cuts like the Marquise formed variations of the Brilliant design applicable to rough which favored other shapes than round or square. Famous examples of early brilliants are the Wittelsbach and the Grand Sancy. It should be noted, however, that these new gemstone cuts were still vastly outnumbered by the table and point cuts, sided by rose cuts of all shapes and sizes until well into the 18th century when Indian diamonds became more scarce and the old cuts started to be recut en masse.

Enter Brazil

Just when the Indian diamonds mines started to become exhausted the first diamonds started to be found in Brazil in an area which subsequently got named after it’s crystalline riches: Diamantina. Here the first crystals were discovered in alluvial deposits around 1725 and by 1730 a steady production became a reality. Individual and independent miners were working the new deposits and their constant prospecting for new deposits caused new diamond localities to be found all over Brazil during the entire eighteenth century, boosting the world’s availability of diamond rough like never before. The new deposits yielded that many stones that the prices of diamond rough dropped to only 30% of what they had been prior to the Brazilian discovery! This price drop and increased availability caused diamonds to become less exclusive. Where they had been more or less reserved for European nobility up until halfway through the 18th century they now became available to a much larger public. The cutting industry grew, profiting from this larger demand. The Brilliant gradually took over the old cuts. The 18th and 19th centuries were the time of the Old Mine Cut stones.

Eureka

The rise of a prosperous middle class in Europe and the United States over the 19th century caused an enormous increase in popularity of diamond jewelry. Due to that increase in demand diamond prices rose again when the Brazilian supply decreased towards the mid-nineteenth century. The European cutting centers in London, Antwerp, and Amsterdam which had seen a huge growth of their cutting houses over the first half of the 19th-century experienced problems when the Brazilian mines started to produce less and less in the 1860’s.Not surprisingly the discovery of the Eureka diamond in South Africa around New Year 1866-1867 wasn’t just a ‘Eureka-moment’ for the 15-year-old boy who found the stone but it also marked the rescue of the Dutch and Belgian diamond cutting industries.

Modernization

Diamond Saw, c.1903

A major event in the history of diamond cutting was the invention of the bruting machine by Henry D. Morse and Charles M. Field in the early 1870’s. They established British and U.S. patents for steam-driven bruting machines in 1874 and 1876 respectively. The first electric bruting machine was invented in 1891. These inventions meant the birth of the commercial application of the first truly round brilliants.

The motorized diamond saw was invented by a Belgian immigrant in the USA in the year 1900. It enabled cutters to accurately shape their rough in directions which prevented cleaving from being performed. The new technology and enormous influx of rough from South Africa caused the glory days of the cutting houses to start. Plenty of customers, a steady supply of rough and mechanized cutting machines changed the ancient craft of diamond cutting into a modern industry. The round brilliant slowly morphed into the ‘ideal cut’ and became the standard cut for diamonds. New cuts like the Asscher Cut (realized in 1902) catered for those who wanted something out of the ordinary. The Baguette Cut was (re)introduced in 1912. One of the more modern cuts is the Princess Cut which was developed in the sixties.

The diamond cutting centers of Antwerp and Amsterdam were comprised of predominently Jewish owned and operated businesses. The Holocoust decimated the Jewish population during World War II and the diamond cutting industry in these two cities never fully recovered. In the years following the war, diamond cutting centers were erected elsewhere with Israel becoming a major player, and later, India also became a noted diamond cutting nation.

More recently, new techniques such as virtual 3D modeling to determine the best yield from rough as well as highly accurate laser sawing have been developed in order to maximize profits.

Diamond Cutting & Grading

Mughal Cut

Rose Cut

Sources

Naturalis Historia, Pliny, 1st century AD.
The Book Most Comprehensive in Knowledge on Precious Stones by Al-Biruni. Originally Written in the 10th Century,
The Treatises of Benvenuto Cellini on Goldsmithing and Sculpture by Benvenuto Cellini, translated by C.R. Ashbee. Originally Written in the 16th Century, Translated in 1898.
Produktions und Handelsgeschichte des Diamantes by Lenzen, Godehard, Duncker & Humblot, 1966. English Translation. ISBN 9780214650840
Diamond Cuts in Historic Jewellery 1381-1910, Tillander, Herbert. Art Books International, 1995.
The Nature of Diamonds, various authors, edited by G.E. Harlow, Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Gem-A Mailtalk Forum, 2011.
Directional Hardness in Diamond on Minsocam.org

Notes

Pliny’s Naturalis Historia, Book 37, Chapter 15.
Gem-A mailtalk forum, January 2011.
The Nature of Diamonds by George E. Harlow.

A History of Silver in Jewelry

Mary — Fri, 03 Feb 2023 18:09:27 +0000

Silver is a white metallic element, harder than gold, softer than copper and second only to gold in malleability and ductility. Represented on the Periodic Table of the Elements by the symbol Ag, silver is an excellent conductor of heat and electricity. Silver is considered one of the noble metals because of its excellent resistance to oxidation. Historically, silver has played a prominent role in the production of jewelry and objets d’art and is usually alloyed with another metal to harden it enough to maintain the desired shape and details imparted to it.

Silver Significance

Victorian Silver Engraved Bangle.

Silver is relatively inexpensive today when you compare it to other precious metals like gold or platinum. This could lure one into believing that it isn’t an important metal. That is a false assumption! At times throughout history silver was valued more highly than gold. When you examine the quantities of silver used in jewelry, its use outweighs all other precious metals by a large factor. This versatile white metal also triggered far more technological advances in the field of mining and metallurgy than its other precious metallic cousins. Entire economies have depended on its availability and the access to silver deposits has swung wars and as a result history. Silver is without a doubt one of the most important metals in use by mankind.

Bronze Age Silver

Mesopotamia

Silver Bull Figure, Southern Iran, ~3000 BC

Our silver story starts somewhere at the end of the 4th millennium BC when clever inhabitants of modern-day Turkey figured out they could extract silver from lead through cupellation (see also: Silver Mining & Metallurgy). Very few silver pieces from this time have survived but those that do give us a great insight in what these Bronze Age silversmiths were capable of.

At the dawn of history (history meaning that part of the past we have written accounts of) silver was used as a currency in Mesopotamia. Not as in coins but purely by weight or in the form of rings. The Mesopotamian silversmith’s shop would have resembled that of the goldsmith or, as is often the case these days, would have been the very same shop. Although silver is slightly less ductile than gold and requires more frequent annealing during the manufacturing process it can still be cast, hammered into extremely thin sheets, engraved, embossed, used in repoussé work and decorated with filigree and granulation. Vessels, statuettes, and jewelry have been found which indicate that silver with high purity was used, yielding quite soft objects.

Egypt

Electrum Cowrie Shell Necklace, Egypt, c.2055 BC-1650 BC
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Ancient Egyptian Bangle Bracelet. c.2055 BC-1650 BC

The Egyptians cherished the rare and exotic. When it came from far away, they loved it. Great lengths of trouble were gone through to get Afghan Lapis lazuli, arguably the most valuable gemstone to them. Along this trade route, silver reached Egypt as well and, just as with lapis, it was valued highly and seen as extremely exclusive. Gold could be obtained close to home from the mountains in the Eastern Desert and Nubia. Perhaps some electrum has come from here as well but pure silver must have been imported, causing it to be worth more than gold and only fit for the most important people.

By about 1600 BC the value of silver had sunk to about half that of gold, indicating that the supply of the metal had grown considerably. By this time it was used as an abstract currency having a constant value. The popularity of silver apparently was submitted to the conjuncture of fashion. King Tut’s grave, for instance, contained hardly any silver items while Sheshonq II even had an all-silver sarcophagus.

Minoa, Mycenae & Phoenicia

Cast Silver Engraved Armlet Found on Cyrpus, ~1000 BC.

The Minoans, and to a greater extent, the later Mycenaeans were traders and consequently would have dealt with silver a lot. Hence, we do see a considerable amount of early Greek silver jewelry from archaeological sites on the Greek mainland, Crete, and Cyprus.

The Phoenicians played a special role in the development of the Mediterranean civilizations through their colonization and trade with all corners of the area. It was the Phoenicians who started the exploitation of the Spanish silver deposits and distribution throughout the classical world. Their incentives pulled silver from its exclusive and exotic status and its availability rose to levels never seen before.

Classical Silver

To both the Greek and Roman societies the availability of silver was extremely important as their currencies, properly minted silver coins, depended on it. It appears that it wasn’t used in jewelry as much as gold was (we see way more gold items surviving from that era) but to some extent, this may be due to remelting and recycling. That which survived shows that it was used for all possible types of jewelry, finger rings, anklets, armlets, etc.

Roman coin pendant, ~2 BC, Rome.
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Greek Hair Ornament, ~500 BC, Cyprus.
© The Trustees of the British Museum

The Romans were fond of niello which is a surface decoration technique very similar to enameling but done with silver sulfate rather than glass. Niello is much tougher than enamel and has a metallic luster rather than a vitreous one. During the Roman occupation of Northern Europe, niello spread throughout the continent, as can be seen from Anglo-Saxon finds in Britain, as well as in Eastern Europe.

Reading Pliny is always good for a nice insight into Roman life through the eyes of an incredible skeptic. Below follow a few chapters from his Naturalis Historia concerning silver and the Roman fondness for it:

Chapter 31. Silver.
After stating these facts, we come to speak of silver ore, the next (after gold) folly of mankind. Silver is never found but in shafts sunk deep in the ground, there being no indications to raise hopes of its existence, no shining sparkles, as in the case of gold. The earth in which it is found is sometimes red, sometimes of an ashy hue. It is impossible, too, to melt it, except in combination with lead or with galena, this last being the name given to the vein of lead that is mostly found running near the veins of the silver ore. When submitted, too, to the action of fire, part of the ore precipitates itself in the form of lead, while the silver is left floating on the surface, like oil on water.
Silver is found in nearly all our provinces, but the finest of all is that of Spain; where it is found, like gold, in uncultivated soils, and in the mountains even. Wherever, too, one vein of silver has been met with, another is sure to be found not far off: a thing that has been remarked, in fact, in the case of nearly all the metals, which would appear from this circumstance to have derived their Greek name of “metalla.” It is a remarkable fact, that the shafts opened by Hannibal in the Spanish provinces are still worked, their names being derived from the persons who were the first to discover them. One of these mines, which at the present day is still called Bæbelo, furnished Hannibal with three hundred pounds’ weight of silver per day. The mountain is already excavated for a distance of fifteen hundred paces; and throughout the whole of this distance there are water-bearers standing night and day, baling out the water in turns, regulated by the light of torches, and so forming quite a river.
The vein of silver that is found nearest the surface is known by the name of “crudaria.” In ancient times, the excavations used to be abandoned the moment alum was met with, and no further search was made. Of late, however, the discovery of a vein of copper beneath alum, has withdrawn any such limits to man’s hopes. The exhalations from silver-mines are dangerous to all animals, but to dogs more particularly. The softer they are, the more beautiful gold and silver are considered. It is a matter of surprise with most persons, that lines traced with silver should be black.
Chapter 44. The different kinds of silver, and the modes of testing it.
There are two kinds of silver. On placing a piece of it upon an iron fire-shovel at a white heat, if the metal remains perfectly white, it is of the best quality: if again it turns of a reddish colour, it is inferior; but if it becomes black, it is worthless. Fraud, however, has devised means of stultifying this test even; for by keeping the shovel immersed in men’s urine, the piece of silver absorbs it as it burns, and so displays a fictitious whiteness. There is also a kind of test with reference to polished silver: when the human breath comes in contact with it, it should immediately be covered with steam, the cloudiness disappearing at once.
Chapter 49. Instances of luxury in silver plate.
The caprice of the human mind is marvellously exemplified in the varying fashions of silver plate; the work of no individual manufactory being for any long time in vogue. At one period, the Furnian plate, at another the Clodian, and at another the Gratian, is all the rage—for we borrow the shop even at our tables. Now again, it is embossed plate that we are in search of, and silver deeply chiselled around the marginal lines of the figures painted upon it; and now we are building up on our sideboards fresh tiers of tables for supporting the various dishes. Other articles of plate we nicely pare away, it being an object that the file may remove as much of the metal as possible.
We find the orator Calvus complaining that the saucepans are made of silver; but it has been left for us to invent a plan of covering our very carriages with chased silver, and it was in our own age that Poppæa, the wife of the Emperor Nero, ordered her favourite mules to be shod even with gold!
Chapter 50. Instances of the frugality of the ancients in reference to silver plate.
The younger Scipio Africanus left to his heir thirty-two pounds’ weight of silver; the same person who, on his triumph over the Carthaginians, displayed four thousand three hundred and seventy pounds’ weight of that metal. Such was the sum total of the silver possessed by the whole of the inhabitants of Carthage, that rival of Rome for the empire of the world! How many a Roman since then has surpassed her in his display of plate for a single table! After the destruction of Numantia, the same Africanus gave to his soldiers, on the day of his triumph, a largess of seven denarii each—and right worthy were they of such a general, when satisfied with such a sum! His brother, Scipio Allobrogicus, was the very first who possessed one thousand pounds’ weight of silver, but Drusus Livius, when he was tribune of the people, possessed ten thousand. As to the fact that an ancient warrior, a man, too, who had enjoyed a triumph, should have incurred the notice of the censor for being in possession of five pounds’ weight of silver, it is a thing that would appear quite fabulous at the present day. The same, too, with the instance of Catus Ælius, who, when consul, after being found by the Ætolian ambassadors taking his morning meal off of common earthenware, refused to receive the silver vessels which they sent him; and, indeed, was never in possession, to the last day of his life, of any silver at all, with the exception of two drinking-cups, which had been presented to him as the reward of his valour, by L. Paulus, his father-in-law, on the conquest of King Perseus.
We read, too, that the Carthaginian ambassadors declared that no people lived on more amicable terms among themselves than the Romans, for that wherever they had dined they had always met with the same silver plate. And yet, by Hercules! to my own knowledge, Pompeius Paulinus, son of a Roman of equestrian rank at Arelate, a member, too, of a family, on the paternal side, that was graced with the fur, had with him, when serving with the army, and that, too, in a war against the most savage nations, a service of silver plate that weighed twelve thousand pounds!
Chapter 51. At what period silver was first used as an ornament for couches.
For this long time past, however, it has been the fashion to plate the couches of our women, as well as some of our ban- quetting-couches, entirely with silver. Carvilius Pollio, a Roman of equestrian rank, was the first, it is said, to adorn these last with silver; not, I mean, to plate them all over, nor yet to make them after the Delian pattern; the Punic fashion being the one he adopted. It was after this last pattern too, that he had them ornamented with gold as well: and it was not long after his time that silver couches came into fashion, in imitation of the couches of Delos. All this extravagance, however, was fully expiated by the civil wars of Sulla.
Chapter 53. The enormous price of silver plate.
It is not, however, only for vast quantities of plate that there is such a rage among mankind, but even more so, if possible, for the plate of peculiar artists: and this too, to the exculpation of our own age, has long been the case. C. Gracchus possessed some silver dolphins, for which he paid five thousand sesterces per pound. Lucius Crassus, the orator, paid for two goblets chased by the hand of the artist Mentor, one hundred thousand sesterces: but he confessed that for very shame he never dared use them, as also that he had other articles of plate in his possession, for which he had paid at the rate of six thousand sesterces per pound. It was the conquest of Asia that first introduced luxury into Italy; for we find that Lucius Scipio, in his triumphal procession, exhibited one thousand four hundred pounds’ weight of chased silver, with golden vessels, the weight of which amounted to one thousand five hundred pounds. This took place in the year from the foundation of the City, 565. But that which inflicted a still more severe blow upon the Roman morals, was the legacy of Asia, which King Attalus left to the state at his decease, a legacy which was even more disadvantageous than the victory of Scipio, in its results. For, upon this occasion, all scruple was entirely removed, by the eagerness which existed at Rome, for making purchases at the auction of the king’s effects. This took place in the year of the City, 622, the people having learned, during the fifty-seven years that had intervened, not only to admire, but to covet even, the opulence of foreign nations. The tastes of the Roman people had received, too, an immense impulse from the conquest of Achaia, which, during this interval, in the year of the City, 608, that nothing might be wanting, had introduced both statues and pictures. The same epoch, too, that saw the birth of luxury, witnessed the downfall of Carthage; so that, by a fatal coincidence, the Roman people, at the same moment, both acquired a taste for vice and obtained a license for gratifying it.
Some, too, of the ancients sought to recommend themselves by this love of excess; for Caius Marius, after his victory over the Cimbri, drank from a cantharus, it is said, in imitation of Father Liber; Marius, that ploughman of Arpinum, a general who had risen from the ranks!
Chapter 55. The most remarkable works in silver.
It is a remarkable fact that the art of chasing gold should have conferred no celebrity upon any person, while that of embossing silver has rendered many illustrious. The greatest renown, however, has been acquired by Mentor, of whom mention has been made already. Four pairs [of vases] were all that were ever made by him; and at the present day, not one of these, it is said, is any longer in existence, owing to the conflagrations of the Temple of Diana at Ephesus and of that in the Capitol. Varro informs us in his writings that he also was in possession of a bronze statue, the work of this artist. Next to Mentor, the most admired artists were Acra- gas, Boëthus, and Mys. Works of all these artists are still extant in the Isle of Rhodes; of Boëthus, in the Temple of Minerva, at Lindus; of Acragas, in the Temple of Father Liber, at Rhodes, consisting of cups engraved with figures in relief of Centaurs and Bacchantes; and of Mys, in the same temple, figures of Sileni and Cupids. Representations also of the chase by Acragas on drinking cups were held in high estimation.
All at once, however, this art became so lost in point of excellence, that at the present day ancient specimens are the only ones at all valued; and only those pieces of plate are held in esteem the designs on which are so much worn that the figures cannot be distinguished.
Silver becomes tainted by the contact of mineral waters, and of the salt exhalations from them, as in the interior of Spain, for instance.

Celtic Silver

Solid Celtic Torc.

Silver Lunula, 2nd Century BC.

To the Celtic tribes, silver together with bronze was used extensively for jewelry. Decorated brooches, torcs, and lunulae were the most common type of jewelry. Before the Roman invasion, the Celts didn’t use coinage but instead used ‘ring money’. These rings were of silver, copper, bronze, or gold and weren’t intended for wearing but were solely used as a currency.

Medieval Silver

With the downfall of the Roman supply lines, gold became a rarity in Europe. As a consequence silver became the foremost metal used for jewelry. Germanic jewelry consisted mainly of functional items such as fibulae, disc brooches, penannular brooches, and buckles, often made of silver and sometimes gilded or inlaid with precious stones with garnets being the most popular choice by far.

From around 800AD on, Viking conquest along the northwest European coast caused enormous amounts of silver to be carted to Scandinavia where silversmiths flourished and silver jewelry became a tradition. The discovery of the Swedish silver deposits somewhere around the turn of the first millennium certainly fueled the custom of wearing silver.

Niello‘s popularity with the Romans had been transferred to the Germanic tribes, the black-white color combination being used to give optimal contrast to the typical Germanic engraving patterns.

The Fuller Brooch, Silver and Niello. Anglo-Saxon, 9th Century.
©Trustees of the British Museum.

The Fuller Brooch

Description by the British Museum:

Circular brooch of hammered sheet-metal, slightly convex in section. It is extensively inlaid with niello and has an open-work outer zone encircling a central roundel which is framed and divided by broad milled borders, into a central lozenge shape surrounded by four subsidiary lentoid fields. These are punctuated at the four points of intersection by bosses, with a fifth at the centre; three of these conceal rivets attaching the (lost) pin mechanism behind.The decorative scheme consists of personifications of the Five Senses in the central roundel, surrounded by the openwork zone of smaller roundels containing alternating geometric animal and human motifs symbolising the different aspects of Creation in a not-quite-symmetrical arrangement. The large central field is occupied by a three-quarter length personification of Sight, with large oval eyes. In each hand he holds a drooping foliate spray with double nicked details; above his head is a three-staged leaf, and on either side of it a triquetra. The points of the lozenge, each with a domed rivet, touch the border of the circular field, creating four lenticular panels, each with a full-length human figure depicting one of the other Senses. They wear short jackets and belted tunics. Any background space remaining is filled with an assortment of foliate scrolls or interlace. In the upper left panel is Taste, with one hand in his mouth, the other holding a foliate stem, while profiled Smell, in the top right, is flanked by two plants, and has his hands behind his back. Touch, in the bottom right panel, places his hands together, and Hearing, in the bottom left, appears to be running, and cupping his hand to his ear. Everything is set upon a nielloed ground. The back is plain and the pin mechanism is now missing. Two small holes at the top may have been for suspension. © Trustees of the British Museum.

As society developed and trade routes to the east were re-established gold retook its old position of being the most popular metal for fine jewelry again. Nevertheless, it was this same trade that allowed a large middle class to develop whose members started to adorn themselves in a way that was previously only reserved for wealthy rulers. Those on a budget would opt for silver jewelry as it was more affordable.

The versatility of jewelry increased, moving away from mainly functional items towards purely decorative and, to a large extent, symbolic items. Finger rings, bangles, pendants, etc. all returned to the jewelry stage and were executed in silver.

By the end of the Middle Ages, silver jewelry and silverware became submissive to hallmarking. See Silver Assaying & Hallmarking.

Renaissance Silver

The era we call the Renaissance conventionally runs from 1500 to 1600 but as a style the Renaissance has its origin at the end of the 13th century in Northern Italy. Trade with the Levant intensified over the last two centuries of the Middle Ages. The European population recovered after its decimation by the plague and there was an expansion of trade centers in the Northern coastal areas like the Netherlands. Here a large middle class developed and cities grew exponentially.

The Byzantine Empire fell in 1453, and many exiles from the areas now controlled by the Ottoman Turks fled to Europe, bringing knowledge that had been forgotten through the Middle Ages. Italy became the center for many developments, having wealth from trade with Asia and Europe, as well as the power of the Church.

Following the discovery of America, a great age of exploration followed. Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, French, and English explorers fought to claim the world for their countries. Christopher Columbus led Spain to the forefront of world exploration when he claimed the Americas for Spain. Portugal and Spain are the front-runners in the New World for this century, which included Pizarro’s subjugation of the Incas and Cortez’s similar conquest of the Aztecs. Silver mines provided vast amounts of silver for trade from 1546 on when significant deposits were found in modern-day Mexico. Some of this went directly from South America to China, to secure Asian items.¹

Silver working techniques remained the same as in medieval times, the big difference with the preceding era was the availability of silver which was brought to Europe in large quantities from the Americas. With a growing population and level of prosperity in Europe, this was a welcome event that allowed silver to remain to be used as a currency and (relatively) affordable as a precious metal for jewelry.

Baroque Silver

The Baroque period, spanning from around 1600 to 1700, saw an increasing amount of South American silver being brought to Europe. The English, French, and Dutch all established bases in the New World. The Netherlands, now independent from Spain, is a major player on the world’s stage, and the artists from the Low Countries dominate not just the Art World but also the Atlantic through their superior navy. Many battles with the Spanish and English navies were fought, often over rich loads of silver on board ships returning from the New World.

Although silver working techniques remained the same as in the preceding centuries a few things did change. Timepieces were a complete novelty and were often executed in silver. Another novelty was the use of silver to set diamonds. The white metal complimented the absence of color in these stones which were now trickling into Europe through intensified trade with India after European sailors started settlements on the Indian peninsula. This enabled them to conduct direct trade with Indian diamond dealers in contrast to earlier times when Arabic merchants acted as middlemen and few good diamonds reached Europe.

Georgian Silver

During the Georgian era, new silver finds in South America occurred on a very regular basis and production was booming. The fashion of setting diamonds in silver which had begun in the Baroque period became common. Diamonds were flowing into Europe in numbers never seen before from India and from 1727 on from Brazil where new deposits were discovered. Fine jewelry was often executed in gold with silver-topped front sides but items composed completely of silver certainly weren’t uncommon. The typical cut-down collet settings of Georgian jewelry are almost always composed of silver, complimenting the ‘ white’ color of the diamonds they would hold.

The manufacturing technique of die striking started to be used for jewelry in 1777. This method comprises the stamping and cutting of precious metal components with the aid of dies and presses or drop hammers. These components could then be assembled by hand to create a complete item. This relatively inexpensive manufacturing method heralded the first mass-produced jewelry lines and these items could be sold for far cheaper prices than handmade items. Naturally, the less expensive metals were used a lot in this process, and with silver being ported into Europe by the boatload large quantities of die-struck silver jewelry reached the markets.

Victorian Silver

The industrial revolution was booming during this period and of course, this had a vast impact on jewelry manufacturing. Silver was extensively used in stamping and die striking. This technique developed in the Late Georgian period and was perfected right through the Victorian era.

After Victoria and Albert bought Balmoral in Scotland in 1848 Scottish agate jewelry became a trend. These items were predominantly executed in silver in good Northern European tradition.

The Arts and Crafts sub-period, which was essentially a reaction to the above-described industrialization of jewelry manufacturing, at the end of the Victorian period, saw another trend in silver jewelry. The design of Arts and Crafts Jewelry was of primary importance. The intrinsic value of the metal and gemstones was really of secondary importance. In Arts and Crafts jewelry, cabochon cuts, usually bezel-set, were preferred over faceted stones and silver was preferred over gold.

Silver

Silver Assaying & Hallmarking

Silver Mining & Metallurgy

À jour

Mary — Fri, 06 Jan 2023 20:17:43 +0000

À jour (from French: jour = day) is a term used in gem setting to describe open-worked backgrounds, created by sawing or piercing, that keep the stone back open “to the day.” This opening allows more light to enter the gem, thereby enhancing its scintillation and color, making it appear more lively. À jour settings for gemstones set in fine jewelry became popular around 1800. Prior to that time, most gems were mounted in closed-back settings. Fine à jour work is accomplished by the use of a graver to refine and create well-formed openings on the reverse of a jewelry item. Art Deco jewelry customarily features à jour work that makes the back of the piece almost as beautiful as the front.

In enameling, the term plique à jour is used to describe an item with an open background that is filled with transparent enamel. This creates a myriad of colors when held to the light.

Accessoire

Mary — Fri, 06 Jan 2023 19:57:55 +0000

Accessoires (or accessories) are items which men or women wear or carry with them that have a purpose. Historically these were utensils or nécessaire that were suspended from a châtelaine or a watch chain and often were contained within an étui. These could be sewing gear, small pencils, knife, scissors, tweezers etc. More contemporary accessoire would include a compact, lipstick, cigarette case or minaudière. Belts, handbags and other fashion items used to complete an ensemble are also referred to as accessoire.

Châtelaine

Equipage

Étui

Nècessaire

Acus

Mary — Fri, 06 Jan 2023 23:09:43 +0000

An acus is a Roman pin originally designed to secure a hairstyle (acus crinalis). They measure 6 to 9 inches in length and are made of gold, silver, bone, wood, or ivory. These handy long pins could also be used with or without a fibula pin to secure a garment.

Adamantine Luster

Mary — Sat, 07 Jan 2023 00:47:31 +0000

Adamantine is the term used to describe the luster exhibited by diamonds and gems with a Refractive Index of 1.9 – 2.5. The root word adamant derives from the Greek word adamastos which means untameable. Throughout history the word adamant has been used in reference to anything that was composed of a particularly hard material, diamond or otherwise.

Subadamantine luster is slightly less than that of a diamond. Example: Zircon.

Addorsed

Mary — Thu, 26 Jan 2023 06:49:13 +0000

From the French adosse, to lean, addorsed is a term that is applied to a motif with animals or objects placed back to back. Often observed in heraldic designs where lions, lambs or other animals are placed back to back for visual effect. Signatures and trademarks on jewelry are often a combination of back to back, addorsed, letters such as the back to back C’s Castellani used for his signature.

Adularescence

Mary — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 22:05:03 +0000

Adularescence is an optical phenomena often called the “moonstone” effect. The phenomenon is applied to feldspar, usually orthoclase that, when cut as a cabochon, exhibits a floating, billowy bluish or white light as the stone is turned. Referred to as schiller by mineralogists.

Aesthetic Period: 1885-1901

Mary — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 00:03:59 +0000

Gibson Girl Sketch by Charles Dan Gibson.

The Aesthetic Period of Victorian jewelry can be defined as one of reaction against previous jewelry periods. Victorians became disillusioned with fashions and furnishings and sought a way out of the conventions of the past, moving toward a time of more refined artistic taste. William Morris was doing his best to keep the spirit of the Middle Ages alive in spite of the industrial revolution. In 1884, following Morris’ example, a group of craftsmen formed the Art Workers’ Guild. In 1886 a group of artists formed the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society and together these two groups set out to woo the public with their work.

The Gibson girl hairstyle depicted in 1890 in drawings by Charles Dan Gibson portrayed women in this new light. The “Gibson Girl” was independent, fun-loving, self-aware and self-assured. Hair combs, often carved from tortoise shell and embellished with gemstones, were essential accessories for this “modern” coiffure. New sporting activities for women, such as bicycling and golf, led to dramatic feminine wardrobe adjustments. Keeping the hands free, long chains held coin purses, watches, and lorgnettes. Whistle bracelets were a must for ladies who took long rides by themselves allowing them to summon help from a two-mile radius.

Women were increasingly involved in the business world. Working in politics they founded the Primrose League in 1885 and the Women’s Liberal Federation in 1886 working furiously toward achieving the right to vote. Young women were going to college and taking an active interest in sports and leisure activities. Fashionable women wanted to achieve the impression that they were a bit naughty or frivolous thus showing the world they were modern or fin de siècle.

In spite of these new jewelry necessities for the modern Victorian woman, in general, women wore much less jewelry and very little during the day. Diamonds were perceived to be in poor taste during daylight hours. In 1890 the Jewellers’ Association, fearing that women had abandoned jewelry altogether, appealed to the Princess of Wales for her help. She purchased a few things and tried to set an example, but dress balls and the opera were the only occasions that brought out any display of jewels at all.

A Victorian Plique-à-Jour Bat Brooch. Circa 1890.
Photo courtesy of Sotheby’s.

Throughout the 19th Century, international exhibitions played a major role in introducing the public to innovations in art and industry. Celebrating the 400th Anniversary of the discovery of America, Chicago hosted the 1893 Colombian Exposition. The highlight of the show was electricity. Visitors to the show were awestruck by fabulous, illuminated displays by some of America’s top designers like Tiffany and Gorham. Case after case of Victorian chains, rings, bracelets, earrings, and watches were met with great enthusiasm. The jewelry was lighter and on a smaller scale than in previous years. Weighty Victorian brooches were replaced by smaller pins scattered on the bodice of a dress and diamond brooches were often worn in the hair for evening. Small stud earrings were desirable as the latest Victorian hairstyles exposed the ears.

The new generation of jewelry designers was appalled by the blatant copying of historic jewels and the heavy-handed creations of their predecessors. They sought to break with the tradition of imitative jewelry and create something completely new. Soft curves and natural shapes with more delicate coloring were the result of this overreaction to the past. Gemstones were cut en cabochon with a preference for amethysts, emeralds, and opals. C.R. Ashbee, a leader in the Arts and Crafts movement, was one of these new designers. Coming from the belief that jewelry should be designed for its intrinsic beauty and not its intrinsic value, Ashbee used pink topaz and amethyst set in dull silver or gray gold. Other jewelers followed suit.

René Lalique Pendant with Plique-á-Jour Enamel.

The Art Nouveau style was developing in France during this period. Rene Lalique pioneered the use of feminine heads with long waving hair, soft colored stones, simple floral motifs and delicate enamels. He introduced fantasy and originality into his work and created a truly underivative style. In England, his work was perceived as the culmination of the new aesthetic that jewelers were striving to achieve. This made Lalique’s jewelry style an instant hit with the “new” Victorians.

A more conventional type of jewelry was still popular with many women of this era but there was a transformation of the style to a simpler look with a featured gemstone. Jewelers were specializing in providing a good selection of precious stones for their customers. Diamonds were still the preferred gem for special occasions and diamond rivières, tiaras, and bracelets set in silver-topped gold were the most popular items. This jewelry was more delicate than in previous eras and stones were set in a more airy manner reducing the metal as much as possible. In the late 1880s, advancements in jewelry manufacturing made platinum a viable metal for jewelry and it quickly became a favorite for diamond mountings. During the Boer War, near the end of the century, the supply of diamonds from South Africa was cut off and other gems regained some of their former popularity.

Victorian Seed Pearl and Diamond Heart Pin/Pendant.

A design called a lace pin (a short bar pin/safety pin with a small design on top) along with bar brooches and delicate pendant necklaces were particularly popular decorated by shamrocks, stars (more dimensional than their previous iteration), knots and, most importantly, hearts. Some of these jewels were so small as to seem invisible, but they were “new” and that made them charming. The passion for novelty jewelry was still fueling the jewelry industry but, to keep it fresh, new designs were introduced. The “honeymoon” brooch was a favorite, designed as a bee perched upon a crescent moon. Other silly novelties included diamond chickens, jeweled lizards, frogs, and owls.

Those seeking this new aesthetic were influenced by a myriad of different events and people. Sarah Bernhardt, starring in Cléopatre, wore Egyptian motif jewelry with turquoise set in silver for the role. She was so popular that where she led, women followed, fueling a revival of Egyptian-styled jewelry. Jewelry from India also became popular after the eye-catching displays of this style at the Exhibition of 1886. English jewelers did not try to copy it as they had the work of the Greeks and Etruscans. The fact that this jewelry was entirely handmade with a lack of symmetry and precision appealed to those seeking something fresh. In an up-cycled jewelry trend that appeared c. 1885-1889, hand-pierced escapement covers removed from verge watches made circa 1600-1700s, originally designed to protect a watch’s balance wheel and staff, were re-purposed into earrings, bracelets, and pendants.

Jewelry of the Aesthetic Period


Victorian Hair Barrettes.	HAIR ORNAMENTS & TIARAS	Tiaras were often necklaces with the ability to be attached to a fitted rigid frame so as to do double duty. Individual elements from these necklace/ tiaras could be removed and worn as pins and pendants. Russian styled tiaras with their spiky kokoshnik shapes were very popular in the 1890’s. Pins and brooches also doubled as hair ornaments securing chignons and curls along with tortoise and horn carved combs and hairpins. Miniature coronets or tiaras set on small combs and worn above the hairline at the center of the head adorned more than a few fashionable Victorians.
Victorian Diamond Drop Earrings. Circa 1890.	EARRINGS	From 1880 to 1890 earrings were fairly small, a single pearl for day and diamond studs in the evening. Pendant earrings re-appeared in the 1890s and were usually designed to move and catch the light and were studded liberally with diamonds. Screw back earrings made and appearance at this time and women were freed from having to pierce their ears.
Victorian Diamond Crescent Brooch. Circa 1895.	BROOCHES & PINS	Brooches were small, delicate and plentiful. Quantity was definitely more important than continuity of design or theme. Elaborate star brooches, preferably set with diamonds, but sometimes with pearls, moonstones or opals, crescent brooches encrusted with diamonds and diamond-set sunburst brooches were the most popular. Gem-set butterflies, dragonflies, spiders, bees and flies along with enameled birds, violins, anchors, and arrows were in vogue. Frogs and lizards set with demantoid garnets and insects with plique-à-jour wings were other stylish motifs. Novelty and sporting brooches along with bar and feather brooches continued to flourish. Prince Edward’s love of horse racing ensconced the horseshoe as a good luck charm.
Victorian Amethyst & Diamond Bracelet.	BRACELETS	Bracelets were worn in multiples, but instead of straps, bangles both wide and narrow clinked together decorated with diamonds, pearls, rubies, and sapphires. Sprung and hinged bangles and cuffs, as well as gold link bracelets, were fashionable. Bangles composed of multiple wires topped with a flower, scroll or geometric motif and velvet ribbons with diamond openwork slides predominated.
Victorian Opal Necklace.	NECKLACES	Necklaces took on a fringed appearance and graduated rows of diamonds dangled from a delicate chain. Diamond necklaces designed as a series of flowerheads joined by foliate motif links and suspending diamond set chain swags displayed the new delicacy. Victoria’s daughter-in-law, Alexandra, was setting fashion trends long before she became Queen. The collier de chien French style dog collar necklaces she wore to conceal a scar were an instant success in England and America. Other necklaces were combined with the dog collar including strands of pearls and diamond riviére necklaces. Both long sautoirs and chokers remained popular into the next century.
Victorian Engraved Perfumer Pendant.	PENDANTS & LOCKETS	The brooches of this period were often outfitted to do double duty as pendants. Crosses and hearts were the essential pendants for every "modern” Victorian woman. Hearts were often enameled in red green or blue with a central pearl or diamond. Lockets were smaller, generally, round with a monogram or set with a small gemstone. Longchains suspending a watch or lorgnette, often with enamel decoration, appeared around this time.
Victorian Diamond Engagement Ring.	RINGS	Circa 1895 the earliest examples of Victorian solitaire diamond rings, set in both gold and silver appeared. Discovery of diamonds and gold in South Africa were the impetus for the popularity of these rings. Crossover rings defined the period. A pair of diamonds, a diamond and a ruby or sapphire, two pearls, crossing in the center, with scrolled shoulders are still in vogue. Class rings and association jewelry became a thriving business. Multi-hooped rings with a small gem-set motif perched in on the top with a heart, crown or ribbon motif was a popular style held over from the eighteenth century.

The End of an Era

The extended Royal Family maintained their influence on fashion. The dog collar-style necklaces and ropes of pearls worn by the Princess of Wales were emulated throughout the globe. Upon the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, Edward and Alexandra would continue to set the style for the next era of jewelry and fashion.

Timeline

Late (Aesthetic) Victorian Period

1886

c.1886

1887

c.1887

c.1888

1889

c.1889

1890

1891

c.1891

1892

1893

c.1893

1894

1895

c.1895

1897

c.1897

c,1897

c.1898

c.1897

1899

c.1899

1900

c.1900

General History

Statue of Liberty dedicated.

Jewelry History

Richard W. Sears starts a mail-order company to sell watches (second company to sell jewelry and watches founded in 1889).

Tiffany setting for diamond solitaires introduced.

General History

Queen Victoria‘s Golden Jubilee

Aesthetic Period

Discoveries & Innovations

Hall-Héroult process for refining aluminum developed; first commercial production in Switzerland, value drops.Celluloid photographic film invented by Hannibal W. Goodwin.

Gold extraction by cyanide process Invented by John Stewart, Macarthur and the Forrest brothers.

The Belais brothers of New York begin experimenting with alloys for white gold (c.). David Belais introduces his formula to the trade in 1917 (18k Belais).

Belais

Jewelry History

Tiffany & Co. purchases the French Crown Jewels.

Birmingham (England) Jewellers’ and Silversmiths’ Association formed by manufacturers.

Jewelry History

C.R. Ashbee’s Guild of Handicraft founded in London, the first crafts guild to specialize in jewelry making and metalwork.

Ashbee

General History

Paris Exposition Universelle – Eiffel Tower constructed.

Discoveries & Innovations

Black Opals discovered in NSW, Australia; commercial mining at Lightning Ridge begins in 1903.

Opal

Jewelry History

René Boivin establishes Boivin in France.

Tiffany & Co. exhibits enameled orchid jewels by Paulding Farnham at the Exposition Universelle.

René Boivin

General History

Gibson’s Gibson Girl appears in Life magazine.

General History

The marking of foreign imports with the name of the country of origin in English required by the enactment of the McKinley Tariff Act, October, 1890.

Patent for artificial horn (celluloid).

Discoveries & Innovations

Frémy publishes experiments with ruby synthesis, drawings of synthetic-set jewelry.

Power driven bruting (girdling) machine for cutting diamonds patented in England.

First commercial opal mine opened in Australia.

Jewelry History

Marcus & Co. formerly Jaques & Marcus, established in New York.

Vogue magazine founded in the USA.

Marcus & Co.

General History

World’s Colombian Exposition in Chicago.

Discoveries & Innovations

Excelsior Diamond is found in South Africa.

Cultured pearls first developed by K. Mikimoto in Japan; first spherical pearls grown 1905.’Platingeld’ introduced, used for simulated gold and platinum chains.

Excelsior

General History

Thomas Edison’s Kinetoscope Parlor (‘peepshow’) opens in New York City.

Discoveries & Innovations

Cross & Bevean, UK, issued patent for cellulose acetate

Jewelry History

Screw back earring finding for unpierced ears patented.

General History

American Consuelo Vanderbilt marries the British Duke of Marlborough.

Discoveries & Innovations

Bonzano Creek Gold Rush in Klondike, Yukon, Canada.

The wireless telegraph invented by Guglielmo Marconi (first transatlantic wireless signal in 1901).

Blue sapphires discovered in Yogo Gulch, Montana.

Jewelry History

Sigfried (aka Samuel) Bing opens his new Paris gallery of decorative art called L’Art Nouveau.

René Lalique exhibits jewelry at the Bing gallery and the Salon of the Societé des Artistes Français; begins work on a series of 145 pieces for Calouste Gulbenkian.

Daniel Swarowski opens Glass stone-cutting factory in Tirol, Austria.

Art Nouveau

General History

Queen Victoria‘s Diamond Jubilee.

Discoveries & Innovations

Casein plastics marketed in Germany.

Jewelry History

Lacloche Frères established in Paris.

Boston and Chicago Arts and Crafts Societies founded.

Lacloche Freres

General History

Spanish-American War.

Discoveries & Innovations

Alaska Gold Rush.

Commercial sapphire mining begins in Rock Creek, Montana.

Commercial tourmaline mining begins in San Diego County CA.

General History

Boer war in South Africa starts, lasts until 1902.

Jewelry History

Aigrettes reach the peak of their popularity (c.)

Diamond supplies curtailed by the Boer war, prices for De Beers’ reserve stock rise.

Aigrette

General History

Paris Exposition Universelle.

Discoveries & Innovations

Oxyacetylene torch invented by Edmund Fouché.

The diamond saw is invented by a Belgian working in the USA. (c.1900)

Synthetic rubies exhibited at Paris Exposition.

Jewelry History

Tiffany & Co. exhibits a life-size iris corsage ornament set with Montana blue sapphires.

Boucheron, Fouquet, Lalique, Vever and other French jewelers display their Art Nouveau jewels at the Paris exposition.

The Kalo Shop founded by Clara Barck Welles in Chicago, IL begins jewelry making in 1905, closed in 1970.

USA officially adopts the gold standard with McKinley’s signing of the Gold Standard Act.

Becker, Vivienne. Antique and Twentieth Century Jewellery: Second Edition: Colchester, Essex, N.A.G. Press Ltd., 1987.
Bennett, David & Mascetti, Daniela. Understanding Jewellery: Woodbridge, Suffolk, England: Antique Collectors’ Club, 2008.
Flower Margaret. Victorian Jewellery: South Brunswick, New Jersey: A.S. Barnes and Co., Inc., 1967.
Gere, Charlotte and Rudoe, Judy. Jewellery in the Age of Queen Victoria: A Mirror to the World: London, The British Museum Press, 2010.
Romero, Christie. Warmans Jewelry: Radnor PA: Wallace-Homestead Book Company, 1995.

Antique Jewelry University

A Brief History of Gemstone Writings

from Gems in Myth, Legend and Lore by Bruce G. Knuth

Origins

Christian Lapidaries

Introduction of the Scientific Method

The Science of Mineralogy

Modern Gemology

Notes

A History of Diamond Cutting

Diamond Cuts & Shapes

Pre-Roman Diamonds

Roman Diamonds

The Introduction of Diamond Cutting

Europe

Transition

Grinding

Cleaving

Sawing

Indian Diamond Cutting

Baroque Roses and Brilliants

Roses

The Birth of the Brilliant

Enter Brazil

Eureka

Modernization

Related Reading

Sources

Notes

A History of Silver in Jewelry

Silver Significance

Bronze Age Silver

Mesopotamia

Egypt

Minoa, Mycenae & Phoenicia

Classical Silver

Celtic Silver

Medieval Silver

The Fuller Brooch

Renaissance Silver

Baroque Silver

Georgian Silver

Victorian Silver

Related Reading

À jour

Accessoire

Related Reading

Acus

Adamantine Luster

Addorsed

Adularescence

Aesthetic Period: 1885-1901

Jewelry of the Aesthetic Period

The End of an Era

Timeline

Late (Aesthetic) Victorian Period

General History

Jewelry History

General History

Discoveries & Innovations

Jewelry History

Jewelry History

General History

Discoveries & Innovations

Jewelry History

General History

General History

Discoveries & Innovations

Jewelry History

General History

Discoveries & Innovations

General History

Discoveries & Innovations

Jewelry History

General History

Discoveries & Innovations

Jewelry History

General History

Discoveries & Innovations

Jewelry History