Renaissance Jewellery

sardonyx cameo.

the renaissance , exploration both had significant impacts on development of jewellery in europe. 17th century, increasing exploration , trade led increased availability of wide variety of gemstones exposure art of other cultures. whereas prior working of gold , precious metal had been @ forefront of jewellery, period saw increasing dominance of gemstones , settings. example of cheapside hoard, stock of jeweller hidden in london during commonwealth period , not found again until 1912. contained colombian emerald, topaz, amazonite brazil, spinel, iolite, , chrysoberyl sri lanka, ruby india, afghan lapis lazuli, persian turquoise, red sea peridot, bohemian , hungarian opal, garnet, , amethyst. large stones set in box-bezels on enamelled rings. notable among merchants of period jean-baptiste tavernier, brought precursor stone of hope diamond france in 1660s.

when napoleon bonaparte crowned emperor of french in 1804, revived style , grandeur of jewellery , fashion in france. under napoleon’s rule, jewellers introduced parures, suites of matching jewellery, such diamond tiara, diamond earrings, diamond rings, diamond brooch, , diamond necklace. both of napoleon’s wives had beautiful sets such these , wore them regularly. fashion trend resurrected napoleon cameo. after cameo decorated crown seen, cameos highly sought. period saw stages of costume jewellery, fish scale covered glass beads in place of pearls or conch shell cameos instead of stone cameos. new terms coined differentiate arts: jewellers worked in cheaper materials called bijoutiers, while jewellers worked expensive materials called joailliers, practice continues day.