Georgian Jewelry

[IceFind]

I have been looking on ebay lately and have seen some georgian jewelry. It seems expensive and dates back to the 1800''s. Does anyone have any further information on what they might now and how much of a premium is placed on jewelry the further you go back?

TIA-

 

[Colored Gemstone Nut]

I am certainly an enthusiast of jewelry IceFind

, but no expert. Hopefully Richard Sherwwod or another appraiser like Dave Atlas with surmountable experience can add to my answer. There is also a good article EmeraldGirl wrote a while back on Georgian jewelry. The Dictionary defines this period as = Of, relating to, or characteristic of the reigns of the four Georges who ruled Great Britain from 1714 to 1830. Of, relating to, or characteristic of the reign of George V of Great Britain.
I think this is a point in history not as widely talked about as Victorian times or Victorian Jewelry for that matter. It is a period famous not only for political unrest and war, but an era that produced some of the most wonderful collectible jewelry, and rivaled the works of many of the great jewelry designers of latter times. I have been on a quest to snuff out a nice gold Georgian mans ring, but have been at my witts end searching. I notice a lot of the gold of this period has a different softer look, a kind of a reddish tone to some of the gold pieces.
Browsing through history articles

, The Georgian Period seemed to be a time of much turmoil and anxiety. In less than 80 years, George III was crowned King of Great Britain (1760) and later declared insane; George Washington became the first president of the United States (1789), Napoleon declared himself Emperor of France (1804); and the wars raged - The French Revolution; The American Revolution, The Napoleon Wars; War between the US and Great Britain, and The Prussian War of Liberation against Napoleon.. When evaluating this period, I always try to keep in mind that history and significant occurrences during an era dictate fashion, etiquette, and jewelry.
Sifting through articles, an example of history dictating fashion would be ironworks jewelry. The Royal Ironworks Factory started producing jewelry in Berlin in 1806. Less than 10 years later, ironworks jewelry was being produced in Germany en masse, and worn as a patriotic symbol during the War of Liberation. "gold gab ich eisen." I GAVE GOLD FOR IRON.
Due to war and suffering

, I believe gold was often a rare commodity during the Georgian period. Although gemstones and gold seemed to be the choice of jewels for Royalty, most people during this era seemed to wear ironworks, brass, silver and other alloy metals. Looking way back to the Roman Times, brass seemed to be a popular alloy for jewelry fabrication. Reading through literature, the 18th century was commonly referred to as the Age of Diamonds.
There seemed to be an abundance of paste stones

, for those wanting high styled and elaborate jewelry, but could not afford the price tag. Looking around on ebay and other antique sites ,original Georgian fine jewelry pieces are extremely elusive, and quality paste pieces seem to be difficult to come across also. Richard Sherwood might add some comments on what he sees reflected in today’s market. It seems sentimental/mourning jewelry and cut steel or ironworks buckles are the most readily available vs. some of the high quality pieces.
Popular design elements and motifs of the Georgian era might have included cameos, memorial/mourning motifs and portrait miniatures . Also popular and often seen in jewelry of this era were bows, intaglios, neo-classical motifs, feathers, floral and foliate sprays. Maltese and other crosses, scrollwork, stars, crescents and sunbursts were also favorites, and seemed to remain popular through the Victorian era.
Popular forms of jewelry during this period also included bracelets, brooches, buckles, chains, chatelaines, pendant earrings, hair ornaments, lockets, necklaces (especially gemstones), parures, pendants, rings, pocket watches, watch chains, fobs, and seals.
Typical materials found during this era also include diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphires, garnets, amethyst, citrines, pearls, coral, paste (faceted glass), topaz, turquoise, chalcedony, marcasites, enamel, glass, hair, ivory, mosaics, hardstone and shell cameos, gold, silver, Berlin iron, cut steel, pinchbeck.
What an interesting topic. I hope others chime with comments about Georgian Jewelry and what they have experienced

Hope this Helped....

 

[glitterata]

Can you show some examples of the jewelry you saw? When I scroll through ebay looking for Georgian jewelry, sometimes I see items that look obviously newer to me, maybe made currently in India, with new rose-cut diamonds.

On the other hand, I once bought a tiny brooch in a lot that was listed as Edwardian (about 100 years old) but turned out to be early Victorian or Georgian paste. (Not that that answers your question, but I was pleased.) (I also once found a Georgian gold, silver, and paste lace pin--a tiny brooch--in a box of single earrings from the 1950s-80s. It was missing its clasp and someone had bent the pin to make it into an earring. I looked and looked for the mate, but never found it. I bought it for a dollar.)

The Georgian stuff I see on ebay that I find convincing tends to be sentimental or memorial jewelry--brooches or rings, set with jet or garnet or paste or pearls, with a braid of hair under glass. Or sometimes there's a beautiful mourning brooch with a picture made of hair arranged on ivory, perhaps of a weeping willow and an urn, or a veiled woman, or something like that. It tends to cost more than similar pieces from the Victorian era, but not always.

How much something is worth will depend a great deal on what it's made of, how well it's made, how beautiful the design is, how rare, and so on. Sometimes newer, more desirable designs are worth more than older ones: for example, Aesthetic Movement silver from the 1870s-80s can bring more than silver in more mundane patterns several decades older.

I'm a big fan of Georgian costume jewelry made of cut steel. It can be costly because it doesn't last that well--steel rusts.

I hope Ana or Widget will chime in.

 

[valeria101]

Date: 12/17/2005 1:49:44 AM
Author: glitterata

I hope Ana or Widget will chime in.

Not me....

All I know is that for such pieces the price will have little to do with the cost of materials, unless there is an important gem involved. Otherwise, the relative merit of the piece and its state would count and I wouldn't know to write about these things.

To sum up the evaluation criteria involved in a sort of premium % sounds like quite a task! ... if feasible. I'd bet it is not, because the make and style of jewelry is so different it would be hard to establish some reference.

Thinking of Ebay, the word 'Georgian' is abused as much as any. Original jewelry from the period is not common. Fine Georgian jewelry even less so. Any attractive and wearable piece would be a find. There are quite a few auction houses and many reputable antique shops listing on Ebay, so there may be some interesting pieces too. One never knows.