More and more as the nineteenth century came near, the fashion in precious stones demanded diamonds. If not in the center of a jewel, they were used to set off the main one. They were worn in the new marquise ring, the gold of which was fashioned to hold a large oblong stone surrounded by diamonds. They were an essential element of the parure, the set of matching jewels, which developed in this century in France. Thus milady might have, in a parure, a bracelet, necklace, earrings, aigrette, and sévigné, all ordered together and made of the same metals and precious stones, patterned for their respective purposes in a concordant, harmonizing whole.
On the Romantics
For a time, under the influence of the rococo style, and the Gothic tendency in the other arts, it looked as though jewelry designs, becoming more and more elaborate and extravagant, might again approach the eccentric and achieve the inept. In 1755, however, the ruins of Pompeii were unearthed, with their treasures of antique style, and a classical simplicity became the order of the day, fostered for a time by the “return to nature” of the Romantics. It was felt, for instance, that the diamond, now prized beyond all other precious stones, shone most effulgent when it stood alone in a simple setting.
The wars toward the end of the eighteenth century, culminating in the French Revolution and the campaigns of Napoleon, shifted the ownership but did not stem the manufacture or the collection of jewels. The inventory of Mlle. Mars, taken in 1828, listed over sixty items, many of them treasures in themselves. Notable among these were: a necklace of two rows of brilliants (diamonds), forty-six in the first row, forty-eight in the second. Eight bunches of sprigs of wheat tipped with brilliants (that is, eight aigrettes) totaling about 500 brilliants weighing 57 carats; a garland of brilliants that could be worn as one bouquet or divided into three flower brooches, totaling 709 brilliants and 85¾ carats; a sévigné—mounted in colored gold a central large topaz was surrounded by brilliants, with three drops of opals also surrounded by brilliants, the whole set in gold studded with rubies and pearls; a pair of girandole earrings of brilliants—in each, from the large stud brilliant were suspended three pear-shaped brilliants, united by four smaller ones; a pair of earrings—from the large stud brilliant of each hung a cluster of 14 smaller brilliants, like a bunch of grapes; a parure of opals, consisting of a necklace, a sévigné, two bracelets, earrings, and a belt-plate. And Mlle. Mars, though a noted comic actress and a favorite of Napoleon, was by no means the outstanding society woman of her day.
Into the Nineteenth Century
By 1840 many new designs—frets, crescents, stars—were employed to show off the popular diamonds. These were still preeminent in the magnificence of the marriage of Napoleon III in 1853, but his Empress Eugénie revived the use of strings of pearls for the evening. Diamonds were then worn in similar strings, called rivières, necklaces of a succession of single stones, matched or graduated, with a very large stone in the center. A stone of ten carats was no longer considered large; the diamond must be at least fifteen carats, and preferably nearer forty. The large solitaire became popular, not only for engagement rings, but as the clip-stone on a pin or pendant, from the diamond often hanging a pear-shaped pearl.
The late nineteenth century developed an electicism, a freedom of choice among the various modes of the past, that continues into the jewelry design of our own day. Toward the end of the century, perhaps as a by-product of the school of les diaboliques in literature and art, there developed a desire to shock the bourgeoisie, and with it a certain desire for novelty, manifested in such bizarre items as live beetles worn as pins, or brooches of a live tortoise with gems set in its shell.
The Twentieth Century
A central ground of common sense and classical design was firmly maintained by Peter Carl Fabergé and the House of Fabergé, which designed many of the jewels at the turn of the century and continued popular among the Edwardians. The great World’s Fair in Paris in 1900 showed a fresh interest in design, and the use of such materials as translucent enamel, ivory, and horn. The influence of the Orient showed in these materials; it was also evident in larger and more colorful earrings and the multiplicity of bracelets.
Hair styles played their part in the shaping of jewelry. The pompadour in front, with chignon, increased the output of tortoise-shell combs, often studded with diamonds, and of fourches, large two-pronged hairpins similarly adorned. After 1914, the vogue of bobbed hair shifted production from combs to diamond slides. At the same time, the exposed ears made ear ornaments de rigueur. As many persons objected to having their ear lobes pierced for earrings, the earclip became popular; today it is almost universal in feminine fashion.