Jewelry Design

1
Jewelry Design
2
Jewelry (for intro.)

• All materials may be used to make jewels,
  provided they can be manipulated in one way or
  another.
• Carlos Pastor, Spanish Jewelry Designer

3
History of Jewelry (for intro.)

• Jewelry is one of the oldest decorative arts.
• Jewelry is the term to describe objects which are
  used to decorate the human body.
• Jewelry has been worn since ancient times as
  ornaments, emblems of religious belief or even to
  protect a person against disease, misfortune or
  witchcraft.
• There are many different functions of jewelry.
  Some are rings, bracelets, necklaces, crowns,
  belts, earrings, brooches, cuff-links, clasps and
  jewelry for hair..can you think of any more?

4
Jewelry Now (for intro.)

• People still buy jewelry today. There are a lot
  of High Street shops which sell jewelry Next,
  River Island, HM, Top Shop, Top Man Debenhams..
  (remember jewellery is not just for women)
• Jewelry ranges in price and value from 1 to
  millions. This varies because of materials used
  and who has designed the piece of jewelry. Gold
  jewelry is more expensive than metal spray
  painted gold!
• Fashion designers use jewelry on their catwalk
  shows to complete an outfit. These can be very
  expensive, large pieces of jewelry designed to
  grab attention.

5
Jewelry (for intro.)

• Jewelry is meant for show it is designed to
  attract attention and to impress the viewer.
• From the beaded necklaces of ancient Egyptians to
  the flashy, large-scale bling bling worn by
  hip-hop stars, sports heroes, and their fans,
  jewelry has always offered complex social and
  cultural meanings.

6
Costume Jewelry

• What do we mean by costume?
• This is jewelry that is made from non-precious
  materials.
• Its appeal is in the original design, skilful use
  of colour, high standards of craftsmanship and
  sometimes how exotic or extravagant it looks.
• Work by Grainne Morton is costume jewelry.
• It can still be expensive but it the price is
  usually hundreds at the most and not thousands of
  pounds.
• Precious jewelry (Tiffanys) is precious and
  therefore very expensive.

7
Words that you may find helpful

• Attached
• Classic
• Colourful
• Constructed (made)
• Contemporary (modern)
• Contrasting (opposites)
• Curvaceous (curved)
• Detailed
• Dull
• Expensive
• Fragile
• Heavy
• Manufactured
• Moulded
• Neutral (plain colours, beiges etc)
• Opaque (doesnt let light through)
• Opulent (rich)
• Patterned
• Reflective

• Rounded
• Scale
• Shiny
• Size
• Sleek
• Strong
• Surface
• Textured

8
Analysing Jewelry

• Like any other area of design, Jewelry has been
  designed. A designer has worked through a
  similar design process that we work through at
  school. The pieces that you are looking at are
  their solutions.
• When studying jewelry designs, consider the
  following
• Form What does the piece of jewelry look like?
  Describe it in detail. Imagine the person
  reading your essay has not seen the item of
  jewelry.
• Function What is the function? Is it a necklace,
  bracelet? Does it look as if it would be
  suitable to be this particular piece of
  jewelry. Give reasons for your answer.
• more

9
Analysing Jewelry

• Target market Who would buy this? Is it for a
  man or woman? What age group of customer
  would buy this do you think?
• Materials used What materials have been used in
  this piece of jewellery? If you do not have
  this information, then make a sensible guess.
• Has the design
• been successful? Do you think that the designer
  has succeeded in creating a good design? An
  important point to consider, would the target
  market buy it?
• more

10
Analysing Jewelry

• Your opinion This is the most important part of
  your essay. You might really like or dislike
  the examples of jewelry that you have been
  looking at. You are not expected to like
  everything that you see. As long as you can
  justify your opinions about a design then your
  views will be valued. You have to give
  reasons for example I do not like this
  design as I do not think the colour of the
  stones works well with the colour of the
  leather chosen. I think that a darker colour
  would have provided more of a contrast.
  Remember to give reasons.

11
Jewelry Designers working nowGrainne Morton

• Grainne is originally from Northern Ireland.
  She now has a workshop in Edinburgh where she
  creates contemporary (modern) jewellery. From
  fashioning jewelry from flowers to trawling
  antique fairs for one-off items to complete her
  compartmental jewellery, Grainne is happy making
  a living doing exactly what she wants.

• Grainne says Ive always been quite creative.
  My parents always encouraged me to work with my
  hands taking up needlework and craft hobbies when
  I was younger. My aunt, Alison Kinnaird is a
  famous glass engraver, so I suppose I have been
  influenced by her too."
• When Grainne left school, Edinburgh College of
  Art beckoned and although she studied many
  subjects, jewellery appealed because she liked to
  work on a smaller scale.

12
Jewelry Designers working nowGrainne Morton

• Grainne says "My work is appreciated by American
  buyers because I make bigger pieces. I make a lot
  of compartmental jewellery for which I use old
  materials - the Americans like that because they
  know about history. The old paraphernalia isnt
  worth a lot of money but I piece it together into
  very attractive jewellery.
• See some more examples of her work on the next
  slide

• Grainne makes jewellery made up of smaller parts
  pieced together. She uses bits and pieces
  including old buttons as well as materials like
  silver, gold and oxidised copper.
• A lot of her high fashion work - necklaces and
  bracelets - are made from laminated flowers. The
  artist has work in galleries abroad and has found
  favour in the States. She already supplies
  Barneys in the US and Japan as well as taking
  orders from Libertys in the UK.

13
Jewelry Designers working nowGrainne Morton
Charm necklace 240
14
Jewelry Designers working nowGrainne Morton
Large sampler brooch 595
Laminate petal flower necklace 270
15
Jewelry Designers working nowGrainne Morton
Colour button necklace 230
Charm bracelet 220
16
Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933)

• After his father's death (father was Charles
  Lewis Tiffany, co founder of Tiffany Co.) in
  1902, Tiffany became vice president and Design
  Director of Tiffany Co..
• His familiarity with jewelry manufacturing at the
  firm, as well as the collaboration with his
  father on several pieces for the Paris Exposition
  Universelle in 1900, undoubtedly inspired him to
  produce jewellery at his own workshops.
• He began experimenting, in much secrecy, with the
  design and fabrication of jewellery intending to
  introduce his work at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase
  Exposition in St. Louis.
• Tiffany Co. is still a famous jewellers. There
  are stores worldwide. See how the company has
  evolved by looking at slides 24 and 25.

• Tiffany broke new ground with his work in
  jewellery. In the necklaces, brooches, and other
  forms he made, Tiffany, like his counterparts in
  Europe, transformed jewellery from mere jewelled
  ornament to art.
• He used semiprecious stonesopals, moonstones,
  garnets, amethysts, and coralin contrast to the
  precious gems set in pieces by Tiffany and
  Company. The semiprecious stones embodied the
  properties that he valued in other media.
• The milky quality of moonstones, for example,
  resembled his creamy opalescent glass, and the
  fiery glow of opals, the glowing iridescent
  surfaces of his Favrile vases. Tiffany set the
  stones in novel and inventive ways, often in
  combination with colour, combining one or two
  hues with subtle variations.

17
Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933)

• Beginning in 1907 jewelry designed by Tiffany and
  fabricated under his direction was made at the
  workshops of Tiffany and Company, where
  production was supervised by Julia Munson, who
  had transferred from the enamels department at
  Tiffany Furnaces.

• When Munson retired in 1914, her post was filled
  by Meta K. Overbeck. Tiffany, who valued the
  dexterity and skill that women demonstrated in
  delicate handwork, staffed the jewelelry
  department predominately with female designers
  and artisans.

18
Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933)
This hair ornament is one of the most
extraordinary pieces of Tiffany's jewellery to
survive, incorporating a remarkably realistic
rendering of two dragonflies resting on two
dandelion puffs, or seed balls. Thematically
characteristic of his work, it shows the plants
not at the height of bloom, but in a natural
fading state, just before the seed pods are blown
away. Remarkably, one of the puffs is portrayed
as already partially stripped of its pods. The
dragonflies, a familiar Tiffany motif, feature
shimmering black opals along the back and in an
almost unbelievable creation in metal filigree,
gossamer like wings. The hair ornament was
originally owned by one of Tiffany's most ardent
patrons, Louisine W. Havemeyer.
Hair ornament , ca. 1904Louis Comfort Tiffany
(18481933)AmericanPlatinum, enamel, black and
pink opals, garnets, H. 3 1/4 in. (8.3 cm)The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkGift of
Linden Havemeyer Wise, in memory of Louisine W.
Havemeyer, 2002 (2002.620)
19
Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933)
This necklace composed of grape clusters and
leaves is one of the rare examples of Tiffany's
earliest jewellery. Tiny circular black opals
represent the fruit, and enamelling in shades of
green on gold forms the delicate shimmering
leaves. It was among the twenty-seven pieces that
Tiffany made for exhibition at the Louisiana
Purchase Exposition in St. Louis in 1904. The
necklace was a gift to the Museum from Sarah E.
Hanley, Tiffany's nurse and later companion, to
whom he must have presented it.
Necklace, ca. 1904 Louis Comfort Tiffany
(18481933)AmericanOpals, gold, and enamel, L.
18 in. (45.7 cm)The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New YorkGift of Sarah E. Hanley, 1946 (46.168.1)
20
Background to Art Nouveau (style of Tiffany
jewelry)

• Art Nouveau was a late 19th Century international
  design movement (trend). The timeline for Art
  Nouveau was mid 1880s to approx 1910.
• Art Nouveau involved design, architecture and the
  decorative arts.

• Art Nouveau used the natural world as inspiration
  for designs. Flowers, leaves and birds are
  common features of work.

21
Background to Art Nouveau (style of Tiffany
jewelry)

• Words used to describe Art Nouveau work
• Decorative
• Elegant
• Ornamental
• Elongated shapes (tall as if stretched)
• Flowing lines
• Stylish
• Natural motifs (images)
• Detailed

• Designers whose work was in this style are as
  follows
• Louis Comfort Tiffany 1848-1933 (jewellery, lamps
  and glassware)
• Charles Rennie Mackintosh 1868-1928
  (architecture, furniture, textile design,
  interior design, painting)
• Antoni Gaudi 1852-1926 (architecture)
• Emile Galle 1846-1904 (glass and furniture)
• Rene Lalique 1827-1886 (jewellery and glassware)

22
This is Tiffany jewelry as sold today. Find out
more by visiting http//www.tiffanyjewelrylife.com
23
More jewelry as sold today
24
Glossary of jewelry terms

• Amulet something worn to protect a person
  against disease, misfortune or witchcraft.
• Bakelite first synthetic plastic invented in
  1907-09. Used a lot in jewellery of the
  1920s and 1930s.
• Cameo jewel decorated with a carved design in
  low relief (slightly raised from the surface).
  Usually the design is a profile of a person
  (the side of their head).
• Costume jewellery
• This is jewellery that is made from
  non-precious materials. It is often made to
  look like expensive jewelry but is not
  expensive to buy.
• Diamante non-precious stones that have the look
  of diamonds. Often found in costume jewelry.
• Enamel opaque (cant see through it) substance
  similar to glass. Used to decorate the surface
  of metal.

25
Glossary of jewelry terms

• Fibula a type of brooch similar to a safety pin.
• Hallmark stamp on gold or silver which guarantees
  the metals purity.
• Lapidary related to the cutting, polishing and
  engraving of gems and stones.
• Paste glass made to look like gemstones.
• Repousse back of metal punched to create a relief
  (raised) design on the front.
• Setting the space where a stone (diamond,
  gemstones) would be positioned or held.