Garrard Platinum Ruby Earrings

The first official Crown Jeweler for the British royal family, Garrard & Co. Limited has crafted iconic and historically celebrated rings, watches, necklaces and other jewelry for centuries. 

Master silversmith George Wickes founded Garrard in 1735 and quickly gained a regal platform with patronage from Frederick, Prince of Wales. The company underwent a range of name changes and shifts in leadership over the years, with Robert Garrard becoming a partner in 1792. He assumed sole control of the firm a decade later and eventually passed the company down to his sons — James, Sebastian and Robert Garrard II — where it would remain in the Garrard family until 1946 with the death of Robert’s great-grandson. 

Garrard Co. Ltd registered its current name in 1909 and, despite a temporary merger and relocation with Asprey, the firm still operates out of its original location on Albermarle St. in London. It was acquired by American private equity firm Yucaipa Companies in 2006.

Garrard created silver, tableware and decorative objects for the royal family as well as the Crown Jewels for a range of coronations beginning with King Edward VII’s in 1902. The esteemed luxury house created Queen Victoria's Small Diamond Crown, which featured colorless stones and was suitable to be worn while she mourned the passing of her last husband, Prince Albert. Later, for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, Garrard provided a pair of gold armlets. The company’s 1893 Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara adorns Queen Elizabeth II on British banknotes.

Among Garrard’s best known works is undoubtedly Princess Diana’s engagement ring — a 12-carat blue sapphire surrounded by 14 diamonds, set in 18-karat white gold. Unlike most royal engagement rings, the one Princess Diana chose wasn’t a one-of-a-kind piece commissioned from the Crown Jeweler, but rather a catalog offering for anyone who could swing the $60,000 price tag. As a result, this was a matter of controversy within the royal family. It is now Kate Middleton’s ring.

Garrard is committed to ethical sourcing and sustainable practices. Today, its all-female design team — led by creative director Sara Prentice — continues to merge ageless techniques with modern technology to uphold the firm’s legacy in the creation of precious handcrafted engagement rings, brooches and other adornments. 

While Garrard and the royal family parted ways in 2007, the house still produces pieces that captivate new generations of jewelry wearers all over the world, just as it has for hundreds of years.

Find antique Garrard & Co. Ltd jewelry on 1stDibs.

Rooted in centuries of history of adornment dating back to the ancient world, modern jewelry reimagines traditional techniques, forms and materials for expressive new pieces. As opposed to contemporary jewelry, which responds to the moment in which it was created, modern jewelry often describes designs from the 20th to 21st centuries that reflect movements and trends in visual culture.

Modern jewelry emerged from the 19th-century shift away from jewelry indicating rank or social status. The Industrial Revolution allowed machine-made jewelry using electric gold plating, metal alloys and imitation stones, making beautiful jewelry widely accessible. Although mass production deemphasized the materials of the jewelry, the vision of the designer remained important, something that would be furthered in the 1960s with what’s known as the “critique of preciousness.”

A design fair called the “Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes” brought global attention to the Art Deco style in 1925 and gathered a mix of jewelry artists alongside master jewelers like Van Cleef & Arpels, Mauboussin and Boucheron. Art Deco designs from Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels unconventionally mixed gemstones like placing rock crystals next to diamonds while borrowing motifs from eclectic sources including Asian lacquer and Persian carpets. Among Cartier’s foremost design preoccupations at the time were high-contrast color combinations and crisp, geometric forms and patterns. In the early 20th century, modernist jewelers like Margaret De Patta and artists such as Alexander Calder — who is better known for his kinetic sculptures than his provocative jewelry — explored sculptural metalwork in which geometric shapes and lines were preferred over elaborate ornamentation.

Many of the innovations in modern jewelry were propelled by women designers such as Wendy Ramshaw, who used paper to craft her accessories in the 1960s. During the 1970s, Elsa Peretti created day-to-night pieces for Tiffany & Co. while designers like Lea Stein experimented with layering plastic, a material that had been employed in jewelry since the mid-19th century and had expanded into Bakelite, acrylics and other unique materials.

Find a collection of modern watches, bracelets, engagement rings, necklaces, earrings and other jewelry on 1stDibs.

Earrings are a timeless accessory. Women have been wearing studs and hoops in civilizations as far back as Ancient Egypt. Diamond drop earrings, pearl versions and other antique drop earrings have a long history as well.

While hoops will always be beautiful, drop earrings hold their own as dazzling accessories, and jewelry designers have explored different variations on this style of earring over time.

Although the term is often misapplied, true drop earrings are characterized by a long lean line ending in a pear-shaped stone that drops just below the earlobe. These accessories were popular in the Art Deco era, which encompassed the 1920s and ’30s and ushered in a very distinct look in jewelry design.

There were many influences on Art Deco jewelry; among them, the excavation of the tomb of King Tut in 1922. “Egyptomania” left an indelible mark on all of the major jewelry houses, from Cartier to Van Cleef & Arpels, Boucheron and Georges Fouquet. Today, the popularity of long Art Deco drop earrings can be attributed to the influence of Coco Chanel. These earrings are frequently characterized by simple shapes, clean lines and an integration of colorful stones such as blue sapphires, emeralds and rubies to accent the pieces’ diamonds. Indeed, during the 20th century, as technology for diamond cutting improved, diamond drop earrings and other diamond jewelry came into wide popularity. Formal examples of diamond drop earrings pair perfectly with a cocktail dress or fancy pantsuit, while gem-set and gold drop earrings make great daytime accessories.

While there are at least several types of earrings you could be wearing right now, drop earrings work well for anyone who favors a minimalist look. Whatever the occasion, find a wide range of antique, diamond and pearl drop earrings on 1stDibs.