Arthur King Necklaces
Self-taught American jeweler Arthur King worked with baroque pearls, geodes, and raw semi-precious gemstones to create distinctive modernist jewelry during the mid-20th century.
Like many of the accessories that populate our jewelry boxes, the forms of King’s provocative vintage brooches, necklaces, rings and other jewels were inspired by the natural world, but the pieces’ metalwork is sculptural and shapely, resembling gnarled tree branches or the surface of an elm’s aging trunk.
King was born in New Jersey in 1921. He became interested in art at a young age and was fascinated with the lost-wax casting technique practiced by some sculptors. King taught himself the process using scrap metals, and his jewelry and objets d’art would come to share common ground with abstract art in the years to come.
While stationed overseas in the Merchant Marines in World War II, King began to work with metal and dabble in jewelry making, integrating sharks’ teeth, white scrap metal and whatever else he could find into his modest “art jewelry,” a term that has been used to describe adornments created by Alexander Calder, pioneering African American studio jeweler Art Smith, Andrew Grima and others over the years. Upon returning from the war, King continued to develop his skills — eventually opening his first shop in New York City's Greenwich Village neighborhood.
King truly distinguished himself from other jewelers of the time — at his workbench, he shaped the brass and silver settings for his often unpolished, chunky stones that featured asymmetrical cuts and employed the age-old technique of lost-wax casting, which sees objects cast from wax models. His early pieces mainly featured silver settings, but his popularity soared once he began to craft jewelry in gold.
In 1961, King's work was exhibited at Goldsmiths’ Hall in London as part of the “International Exhibition of Modern Jewellery” and a year later, he opened his flagship store on Madison Avenue. His success allowed him to open more locations in London, Cape Cod, Havana, Miami and elsewhere.
King used a dizzying array of gems and other materials in his unconventional pieces. And as much as the jewelry of the 1960s featured eye-catching candy-colored stones, it was also an era of new textures and freeform gold settings, and King was at the forefront, creating audacious designs that contrasted sharply with the work of the world’s leading luxury houses.
King’s work has been celebrated at a range of institutions over the years including the Museum of Contemporary Crafts (now the Museum of Arts and Design), the Cultured Pearl Association of Japan, the Victoria and Albert Museum and more. His jewelry was exhibited at the Cincinnati Art Museum’s “Simply Brilliant: Artist-Jewelers of the 1960s and 1970s,” which opened in 2021.
On 1stDibs, find vintage Arthur King brooches, rings, necklaces and more.
20th Century American Arthur King Necklaces
18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Late 20th Century Arthur King Necklaces
Emerald, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
1970s Vintage Arthur King Necklaces
Turquoise, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold, Gold
1970s American Modernist Vintage Arthur King Necklaces
Diamond, Pearl, Gold, 14k Gold
Mid-20th Century American Modern Arthur King Necklaces
Quartz, Ruby, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
1970s American Vintage Arthur King Necklaces
Coral, Diamond, Turquoise, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
1970s British Baroque Vintage Arthur King Necklaces
Diamond, Brown Diamond, South Sea Pearl, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Late 20th Century American Modern Arthur King Necklaces
Aquamarine, Diamond, Freshwater Pearl, Peridot, Ruby, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Late 20th Century Italian Retro Arthur King Necklaces
Diamond, Ruby, Pearl, 9k Gold, Yellow Gold
2010s American Modern Arthur King Necklaces
Diamond, Pearl, Black Pearl, 18k Gold, White Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Contemporary Arthur King Necklaces
Diamond, Lapis Lazuli, Turquoise, Moonstone, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Contemporary Arthur King Necklaces
Diamond, Emerald, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Contemporary Arthur King Necklaces
Diamond, Ruby, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Late 20th Century Italian Retro Arthur King Necklaces
Emerald, 14k Gold
2010s American Contemporary Arthur King Necklaces
Quartz, Ruby, Gold, 18k Gold, Rose Gold
1950s Italian Retro Vintage Arthur King Necklaces
Amethyst, Pearl, Silver
1950s American Vintage Arthur King Necklaces
Early 2000s Arthur King Necklaces
Multi-gemstone, 18k Gold
1920s British Art Deco Vintage Arthur King Necklaces
Diamond, Pearl, White Gold
Early 20th Century English Edwardian Arthur King Necklaces
Diamond, Natural Pearl, Gold, 15k Gold, Yellow Gold, Silver, Sterling Si...
1960s American Modernist Vintage Arthur King Necklaces
Diamond, Pearl, Sapphire, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
1970s American Modernist Vintage Arthur King Necklaces
Jade
Mid-20th Century American Arthur King Necklaces
Pearl, 18k Gold
Late 20th Century American Modern Arthur King Necklaces
Aquamarine, Diamond, Freshwater Pearl, Peridot, Ruby, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
1970s American Vintage Arthur King Necklaces
Diamond, Emerald, 18k Gold
American Arthur King Necklaces
American Arthur King Necklaces
Cultured Pearl
American Arthur King Necklaces
Diamond