The Georgian Jewelry Period

The hardest vintage jewelry to find is that from the Georgian period between the 1700s and 1800s. Over time people placed more value on what went into a piece of jewelry rather than the style. As a result, most Georgian pieces have been melted down, reformed or taken apart by those who feel the designs are too old fashioned. As result, Georgian jewelry is fairly rare and it is almost impossible to find intact pieces of Georgian jewelry today. However, you can still find the occasional ring, brooch, earrings or necklace from this time period.

The Georgian period of jewelry was popular during the reign of England’s Kings George I, II and III. During this time the aristocracy was known for wearing a large amount of jewels. Even coat buttons, knee breeches and shoe buckles had jewels on them. It wasn’t uncommon to find women wearing a complete set that consisted of a matching necklace, ring, bracelets, earrings and a tiara or aigrette.

As with other early era jewelry all Georgian jewelry pieces are handmade. This means most pieces didn’t appear perfect and had some form of irregularity. Stones often looked cruder than those of later eras. This era also focused on jewelry that could come apart to form separate pieces. For example, a necklace could be designed to form two bracelets or a bracelet could become a brooch and earrings.

However, since the life expectancy in the Georgian era wasn’t long due to sanitation and lack of medicine there wasn’t many pieces of jewelry produced. There were a small number of aristocracies who could afford jewelry while there was a larger poor population. As a result, not many could afford the luxury of jewelry. Even to those who could afford jewelry the shortened life span prevented large collections of Georgian era jewelry.

For more information about Georgian jewelry please visit, www.doverjewelry.com.