The modernist aesthetic
By the 1920s jewellery had become established as an integral part of everyday culture. The attitude to life encouraged by an increasingly open society and the self-image cultivated by the ‘New Woman’ called for dissociation from the playfully fluid linearity of Jugendstil/Art Nouveau. Reduction to geometric forms and eschewal of all ornament perceived as extraneous led to the elegant clarity of the Art Deco style. Forward-looking modernism and the dynamic world of technology provided inspiration for jewellery design.
New manufacturing processes and the use of innovative materials such as stainless steel, chrome, Bakelite and other synthetics were combined with traditional jewellery-making techniques. Design was premised on striking contrasts.
France was the centre of the Art Deco movement. Both the luxurious gem-set haute joaillerie pieces from French jewellers and the avantgarde jewellery that mirrored prevailing trends in the art scene were internationally admired and universally imitated.
The thirst for luxury was not, of course, limited to the rich upper classes. Jewellery was suddenly available to so many women because a wide range of ‘artificial’ costume jewellery was now on offer.
