The Hallmark Society
Eras
Jewelry is made of fashion, technology and materials, and all three change at datable moments. These guides cover what each period made, what it made it from and how to recognise it.
The whole span, to scale
Eras overlap. Art Nouveau runs through the last decade of Victorian and into Edwardian, which is why those three get confused more than any other. Bars on separate lines are running at the same time.
- Parure What Is a Parure? Jewelry Sold as a Set A parure is a matched suite of jewelry, a demi-parure a smaller one. What they contained, why complete sets are rare, and why the fitted case matters as much as the jewels.
- Suffragette jewelry Suffragette Jewelry: The Colours, the Claim and the Evidence Green, white and violet jewelry is widely sold as suffragette. The evidence for the colour code is thin, the marketing is thick, and here is how to judge a piece honestly.
- Stickpins Stickpins and Tie Pins: The Cheapest Way Into Antique Gold Victorian and Edwardian stickpins carry real gold, real stones and real design at a fraction of ring prices. How to date them, judge them and wear them now.
- Scandinavian Scandinavian Modernist Jewelry: Silver, Silence and the 1950s Mid-century Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish silver jewelry: the makers, the marks, the standards and how to tell studio work from factory production.
- Mourning jewelry Mourning Rings: The Jewelry That Names the Dead Georgian and Victorian mourning rings carry names, dates and ages inside the shank, plus hair, enamel and skeleton motifs. How to read, date and value them.
- Liberty and Co Liberty and Co and the Cymric Line: Arts and Crafts, Made in Quantity Liberty's Cymric silver and Tudric pewter brought Arts and Crafts design to a shop counter. The marks, Archibald Knox, and how to tell Liberty work from its imitators.
- Hatpins Hatpins: The Weapon-Length Jewelry of 1900 Edwardian hatpins ran up to twelve inches, were legislated against as weapons, and are now among the cheapest marked antique silver. How to date, judge and display them.
- Fobs Fobs, Seals and Sovereign Cases: What Hung From the Watch Chain Georgian and Victorian watch chains carried seals, fobs, vinaigrettes and sovereign cases. What each object did, how they are marked, and what they are worth now.
- Arts and Crafts Arts and Crafts Jewelry: The Hammer Marks Are the Point Arts and Crafts jewelry, roughly 1880 to 1920, prized visible handwork, cabochon stones and silver over diamonds and gold. How to recognise it, date it and judge quality.
- Vinaigrettes Vinaigrettes and Scent Jewelry: Perfume as Portable Silver Vinaigrettes held vinegar-soaked sponges behind pierced gilt grilles; pomanders, scent flasks and double-ended bottles complete the family. How to judge the little boxes.
- Scottish agate Scottish Agate Jewelry: The Pebbles That Conquered Victorian Britain Scottish pebble jewelry sets native agates, jasper and cairngorm in silver strapwork, plaids and dirks. The Victorian craze, its motifs, and how to judge genuine pieces.
- Acrostic jewelry REGARD Rings: Jewelry That Spells Its Message in Stones Acrostic jewelry spells words with the first letters of its gemstones: REGARD, DEAREST, ADORE. How the code works, the stones behind each letter, and how to decode a suspected example.
- Poison rings Poison Rings: The Legend, and What the Compartments Really Held Compartment rings are real; the poison is mostly legend. What locket rings actually carried, relics, hair, scent, pills, and how to judge antique examples.
- Pinchbeck Pinchbeck: The Georgian Alloy That Fooled the Eye and Told the Truth Pinchbeck is the 1720s copper-zinc alloy that imitated gold so well it became a name brand. How to recognise genuine pinchbeck, date it, and separate it from later gilt metal and rolled gold.
- Mizpah jewelry Mizpah Jewelry: One Word for Every Parting MIZPAH on Victorian brooches and rings quotes Genesis: the Lord watch between me and thee while we are absent one from another. The parting-token genre, its forms and its market.
- Cut steel Cut Steel Jewelry: The Sparkle That Came From a Forge Cut steel jewelry sparkles with hundreds of individually riveted, faceted steel studs. How it was made, how to date it by stud count and backplates, and how to keep it from rust.
- Chatelaines Chatelaines: The Housekeeper's Toolbelt That Became High Jewelry A chatelaine hung from the waist and carried keys, scissors, watches and scent on chains. The history, the accessories, and how to judge surviving examples.
- Bohemian garnets Bohemian Garnet Jewelry: A Hundred Small Fires Bohemian garnet jewelry masses small rose-cut pyropes into pavé clusters, stars and crescents. The Czech industry behind it, the low-gold trap, and how to judge condition.
- Berlin iron Berlin Iron: The Jewelry of Patriots, Cast in Black Berlin iron jewelry, fine black cast-iron lace from the Napoleonic era, began as patriotic exchange for donated gold. How it was made, the Gold gab ich für Eisen story, and how to judge pieces today.
- Victorian jewelry Victorian Jewelry: How to Recognise the Three Periods The Victorian era lasted sixty four years and changed completely three times. How to tell Romantic from Grand from Aesthetic, and what each period used, made and left behind.
- Retro jewelry Retro Jewelry: What Wartime Scarcity Made Why Retro jewelry is big, gold and sculptural, how platinum rationing and Hollywood shaped it, and how to tell period Retro from 1980s pieces that borrow the look.
- Dating antique jewelry How to Date Antique Jewelry: The Method Dealers Actually Use A step by step method for dating antique jewelry from its construction, findings, metal, stone cutting and motifs, with the date each piece of evidence actually proves.
- Georgian jewelry Georgian Jewelry: What Survives, and How to Know It Closed backs, foiled stones, silver-topped gold and rose cuts. How to recognise genuine Georgian jewelry, why so little survives, and the one thing that will destroy it.
- Edwardian jewelry Edwardian Jewelry: Platinum, Millegrain and the Garland Style What makes Edwardian jewelry recognisable, why platinum changed everything after 1900, how to read millegrain and pierced galleries, and how to tell period work from later copies.
- Art Nouveau Art Nouveau Jewelry: The Twenty Years Everything Curved Plique-a-jour enamel, whiplash lines, insects and women. What Art Nouveau jewelry is, why so little survives, and how to separate period pieces from the endless reproductions.
- Art Deco Art Deco Jewelry: How to Tell Real from Reproduction What genuine Art Deco jewelry is made of, how calibre cutting and millegrain give it away, and the five checks that separate a 1925 piece from a 1975 or 2015 copy.
- Antique jewelry Antique or Vintage? What the Words Actually Mean Antique means one hundred years old or more. Vintage means old but not that old. Here is where the line falls this year, why retro and estate mean something different again, and where the definitions are simply marketing.