Published by Mat @Victoria James on Tuesday, May 08, 2018
Art Nouveau, an international style of art, architecture, and design, flourished from the 1890s to the early 1900s. Characterised by its flowing, organic lines and forms inspired by nature, it rejected historical styles and embraced a new aesthetic that incorporated natural elements like plants, flowers, and vines, as well as flowing, asymmetrical compositions.
About 15 - 25 years later in around 1915 to 1920, Art Deco was born. Again in France and a substantial contrast to art nouveau, art deco celebrates symmetry, straight lines and bold colours with inspiration drawn from gothic architecture, Egyptian and Aztec art and the machine age.
These two iconic eras paved the way for jewellery making throughout the entirety of the time that was to follow. It sparked more of a general interest in jewellery, showing clearly that there is much more that can be done with jewellery than just a plain band! Usually, you can tell which era piece of jewellery has drawn inspiration from by looking at what shapes are present, and what the cut of the stone is like. For instance, emerald, square and baguette cut stones were particularly popular in art deco pieces, due to their bold, linear and geometric shapes and angular facets, whereas art nouveau celebrated the use of softer, more circular and oval shaped stones, including the use of cabochons.
Colours can also be a fantastic indicator aswell. Art nouveau uses a much more natural looking colour pallette, including browns, oranges and other warmer tones, whereas art deco was much more striking, with bold primary colours, particularly sapphires in varying shades - cornflower blue was a particular favourite at the time.
Here at Victoria James, we have always been fans of both art nouveau and art deco design. As a result, we've created several lines of jewellery that draw inspiration from each style and their individual features. Our true passion however, lies in the heart of the art deco style - you can probably tell if you've been to either of our branches or had a look at our selection online! We love to create jewellery that makes a statement. We also predominantly use prescious gemstones (diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires - bold, primary colours), so it made perfect sense for us to focus in on this historic and iconic era.
So, if you haven't already, take a look through our fantastic range of art deco pieces by clicking here - you may just find the next addition to your collection!