Books Reviews

Vintage Jewelry Design: Classics to Collect and Wear – Book Review

By June L. Apr 6, 2011, 14:15 GMT

This gorgeous coffee-table book, with a foreword by influential jeweler Gerda Flöckinger, showcases classic vintage jewelry from the past 100 years. Featuring examples that epitomize the iconic styles of each decade, it offers an overview of the most influential designers (including Tiffany, Cartier, Fabergé, and Chanel), their sources of inspiration, and materials of choice. Photos display a selection of rare and remarkable pieces from museums and private owners, and a ...more

This lovely well illustrated volume will delight both the vintage jewelry collector and the novice with stunning photographs and useful information.  It is also of value to designers, art students and jewelry makers for a wealth of ideas from the past that can be incorporated into modern creations. 

The fascinating foreword by the celebrated revival jewelry designer Gerda Flockinger gives a history of her own style of blending past with present day ideas to create amazing results in timeless jewelry pieces.

Author Caroline Cox gives an introduction before dividing her book into decades of ornaments, beginning with the “Divinely Decadent” 1890 -1910 and going through the 1990 to Now “Future Collections.” 

Each decade is explored with both ornamental and artistic elements carefully described and illustrated with clear, beautiful photographs.  Each section has a “Key looks of the decade” which will be of interest and usefulness to the above mentioned artists, as well as those creating a certain look for stage or film, or individuals wanting to re-create the style of a specific time period.

Vintage Jewelry Design is finished off with a Shopping and Collecting Guide, a Glossary of Jewelry Terms, and a section listing further reading choices.  This is a breathtakingly beautiful volume that serves as both a work of reference and a pleasurable entertainment.