Victorian Jewelry: Unexplored Treasures

"This handsomely illustrated volume presents a new look at Victorian jewelry––not the fussy, overly ornate froufrou usually associated with the Victorian era, but the bold, playful, romantic, and 'modern' jewelry that is increasingly prized and collected today for its beauty and workmanship. This 'secondary' jewelry, as it is called, was produced by jewelers in England and Europe to satisfy the great demand for inexpensive adornment that arose during Queen Victoria's long reign (1837–1901), and was inspired, in large part, by the queen's own penchant for jewelry.

Secondary jewelry was often made of some of the most inconceivable materials: hair, steel, papier-mache, iron, and aluminum. Some of the most sought-after pieces, however, are of fine silver: oversized bangle bracelets, brooches in symbolic shapes like stars, anchors, hearts, crosses, serpents, horseshoes, and outstretched hands, and neoclassical fringe necklaces were all the rage then and are eminently wearable today. The book also explores the glorious color and style of pebble jewelry–Scottish agate, malachite, and granite––the amazing modernity of niello, the smooth luster of tortoiseshell, and the stark black beauty of Whitby jet and its substitutes, bog oak and gutta-percha. 

With a firm grounding in the symbiosis of today's fashions and yesterday's finery, authors Ginny Reddington Dawes and Corrine Davidov have selected pieces from the best collections in the United States and Great Britain, placing special emphasis on those pieces with a modern touch or a beauty too timeless ever to be left in a dusty drawer. They also provide helpful tips for the collection and care of this surprisingly affordable and wearable jewelry." 

Published in 1991 with photographs by Tom Dawes.