An overview of the history of the use of colour in jewellery

Authors

  • Lynne Bartlett

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.23738/ccsj.i82017.05

Keywords:

colour, jewellery, gemstones, titanium, aluminium

Abstract

From ancient times rare and beautiful coloured materials have been prized and worn as adornment and/or indications of status.
In early societies these materials would have been ‘found’ objects such as shells and feathers but as technologies advanced metals were used extensively.

For thousands of years jewellers created beautiful objects using a range of metals with limited colours: yellow, red and white. Whether the yellow was high purity gold or bronze, or the white was silver, platinum or a base metal alloy, the visual impact was essentially the same. Other materials were needed to expand the palette to colours such as blue, purple and green.

This paper outlines the materials and methods that were used from the earliest known examples to recent decades.
Historically gemstones and vitreous enamels provided jewellers with a wide range of colours. The Ancient Egyptians used turquoise, lapis and coral with gold to produce vibrant multi-coloured jewellery. The Romans had a particular fondness for emeralds, sapphires and pearls while the Anglo-Saxons produced amazing jewellery featuring red garnets and blue enamel. Magnificent mediaeval jewels, mostly royal status symbols, incorporated rubies, emeralds, sapphires and diamonds with fine enamels. By the eighteenth century new sources of gemstones, particularly from S America, made jewellery more affordable and subject to changes in fashion. Over the ensuing decades fashionable jewellery veered from almost monochrome, diamond-set designs to multi-coloured, multi-gemstone pieces. The Victorians used an amazing array of gemstones, with rare and unusual species particularly prized.

The mid-twentieth century saw the introduction of metals that could be coloured such as anodised aluminium and a new metal, titanium, which enabled jewellers to produce multi-coloured pieces without the use of gemstones or enamel.

References

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Published

2017-12-17

Issue

Section

Papers

How to Cite

“An overview of the history of the use of colour in jewellery” (2017) Cultura e Scienza del Colore - Color Culture and Science, 8, pp. 53–58. doi:10.23738/ccsj.i82017.05.