Manuel Rosa Brooch

Manuel Rosas, the founder of fine jewelry company Rosior, develops the Portuguese company’s complex and intricate designs, which are brought to life by a small team of Lisbon-based jewelers. 

While only a few decades old, Rosior has a jewelry history dating back along Rosas’s family lineage to the 1840s. Both sides of his family were involved with jewelry, but his father’s side established Rosas de Portugal, Lda, in 1890. Manuel Rosas began as a partner in the company before starting his own brand in 1978 to expand on his innovative ideas.

Rosior’s crown jewel is the bespoke Gem Dreams evening bag. Hand-crafted from 3.7 ounces of 19.20-karat gold and 22.61 ounces of sterling silver, the piece took over 1,100 hours of labor, including 900 hours to set the over 4,730 gemstones that cover the bag. Finished in 2009, after taking two years to complete, the bag brought extravagant colors and luxury style to the Portuguese jewelry scene.

In 1986, Rosas won the Ideias Inovadoras Prize from the Portuguese Institute. In the same year, Rosior presented its work for the first time in Asia at an exhibition in Tokyo, later followed by one in Dubai. Four years later, the Spanish minister for industry awarded Rosas the European Community Design Prize for one of his stunning designs. The Rosior team received a visit from the First Lady of Portugal in 1997 and held exhibitions at the Portuguese Embassy in Paris in 2008, 2009 and 2011.

Rosior’s newest boutique is at the Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon. There, Rosior’s specialties are on full display, like dazzling gem-encrusted butterflies and flowers, as well as bold cocktail rings and incredible cuff bracelets. Manuel Rosas’s son, José Correia Rosas, joined the company in 2006 and is continuing the family tradition of exceptional jewelry-making in the 21st century.

On 1stDibs, find a collection of Rosior rings, earrings, bracelets and more.

Contemporary jewelry is inextricably linked with the moment in which it is created, frequently reflecting current social, cultural and political issues such as environmental consciousness, identity and sustainability. It’s informed by fashion trends, from the chokers of the 1990s to the large chain necklaces of the early 2000s.

Jewelry is one of the oldest forms of adornment. Lockets made of silver or gold have been treasured gifts for hundreds of years, for example, and charm bracelets, which have existed since prehistoric times, didn’t become especially popular until the 19th-century reign of Queen Victoria. For many centuries, fine jewelry was used primarily to express wealth or status through lavish materials. Then, in the 1960s, a concept known as the “critique of preciousness” emerged, with jewelers creating pieces that did not get their value from gemstones or precious metals. Instead, it was the jeweler’s artistic vision that was prized and elevated.

This shift still informs Contemporary jewelry being made by artists today. Whether they are using cheap, found materials and working with provocative geometric shapes or seeking out the rarest stones, they are imbuing their work with meaning through their skills, techniques and ideas. Innovative designers such as Elsa Peretti, who popularized sculptural sterling-silver jewelry for Tiffany & Co., and David Yurman, who twisted metal into the simple yet striking Cable bracelet, have also influenced the direction of Contemporary jewelry’s forms and aesthetics.

Meanwhile, technological advancements like metal alloys and laser engraving have led to new possibilities in jewelry design. Now, edgy makers and brands as well as minimalist designers are pushing Contemporary jewelry forward into the 21st century.

Find a collection of Contemporary rings, earrings, necklaces and other jewelry on 1stDibs.

Antique and vintage brooches, which are decorative jewels traditionally pinned to garments and used to fasten pieces of clothing together where needed, have seen increasing popularity in recent years.

Given their long history, brooches have expectedly taken on a variety of different shapes and forms over time, with jewelers turning to assorted methods of ornamentation for these accessories, including enameling and the integration of pearls and gemstones.

Cameo brooches that originated during the Victorian age are characterized by a shell carved in raised relief that feature portraits of a woman’s profile, while 19th-century micromosaic brooches, comprising innumerable individually placed glass fragments, sometimes feature miniature depictions of a pastoral scene in daily Roman life.

At one time, brooches were symbols of wealth, made primarily from the finest metals and showcasing exquisite precious gemstones. Today, these jewels are inclusive and universal, and you don’t have to travel very far to find an admirer of brooches. They can be richly geometric in form, such as the ornate diamond pins dating from the Art Deco era, or designer-specific, such as the celebrated naturalistic works created by Tiffany & Co., the milk glass and gold confections crafted by Trifari or handmade vintage Chanel brooches of silk or laminated sheer fabric.

Brooches are versatile and adaptable. These decorative accessories can be worn in your hair, on hats, scarves and on the lower point of V-neck clothing. Pin a dazzling brooch to the lapel of your blazer-and-tee combo or add a cluster of smaller pins to your overcoat. And while brooches have their place in “mourning jewelry,” in that a mourning brooch is representative of your connection to a lost loved one, they’re widely seen as romantic and symbolic of love, so much so that a hardcore brooch enthusiast might advocate for brooches to be worn over the heart.

Today, find a wide variety of antique and vintage brooches on 1stDibs, including gold brooches, sapphire brooches and more.