Jewellery of the highest artistic standards to adorn the hair, forehead, ears, neck, breast, arm or robe, with pieces made from all sorts of materials ranging from precious metals to a beetle’s carapace: the collection focuses on antiquity, the renaissance and the 19th century. The latter was probably the most fertile era in European jewellery art, with pieces by, among others, Lucien Falize, Jules Wièse, Eugène Fontenay, Carlo Giuliano and the Castellani brothers.
The art nouveau period is represented by pieces from Lucien Gaillard, Eugène Feuillâtre, Louis C. Tiffany, Edouard Colonna, Ludwig Habich, Patriz Huber and Theodor Fahrner. Elisabeth Treskow, probably the most renowned 20th century jewellery maker, has donated her collection of antique gems. Her own work, which reintroduces the antique technique of granulation into jewellery design, is also included in the collection.
Other 20th century masters, such as Karl Gustav Hansen, Raymond Templier, Herbert Zeitner, Johann Michael Wilm, Hildegard Risch, Falko Marx, Friedrich Becker and Peter Skubic, are also represented in the collection.