Christian Dior Vintage Iconic Gold Amethyst Water Tear Drop Pendant Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Unisex Amethyst Purple Shining Sparkling Sun Burst Crystals Water Tear Drop Pendant Elegant Modernist Necklace, Gold Plated Very excellent condition.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Iconic Gold White Pearl Crystals Water Drop Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Crystals Double Fan White Pearl Water Drop Dangle Pendant Elegant Necklace, Gold Tone Very excellent condition. 100% Genuine.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Iconic Gold Lapis Foil Cabochon Octagon Omega Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Unisex Lapis Navy Foil Cabochon Octagon Square Sparkling Crystals Ribbed Omega Adjustable Collar Chunky Statement Necklace, Gold Plated Very good condit...
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Gold Iconic Amethyst Oval Pendant Trio Cluster Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Amethyst Purple Oval Pendant Trio Cluster Crystals Elegant Modernist Necklace, Gold Plated Very good condition.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Unisex Gold Ribbed Adjustable Snake Omega Choker Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Unisex Ribbed Adjustable Omega Snake Collar Choker Modernist Necklace, Gold Plated Very good condition.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Gold Gripoix Emerald Green Octagon Pendant Link Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Iconic Gripoix Emerald Green Octagon Pendant Link Elegant Modernist Necklace, Gold Tone Good condition.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Iconic Gold Geometric Ribbed Omega Snake Choker Chunky Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Unisex Geometric Pendant Ribbed Omega Snake Choker Collar Modernist Chunky Statement Necklace, Gold Plated Very good condition.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Iconic Gold Butterfly White Water Drop Pearl Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Openwork Butterfly White Water Tear Drop Pearl Pendant Elegant Necklace, Gold Plated Very excellent condition. 100% Genuine.
Gold Plate
Authentic Christian DIOR Repurposed Charm Pendant Necklace Logo Gold
By Christian Dior
Located in New York, NY
Authentic Christian DIOR Repurposed Charm Pendant Necklace Logo Gold Add a touch of luxury to your outfit with this Authentic Christian DIOR Repurposed Charm Pendant Necklace.
Christian Dior Vintage Iconic Gold Crystals Black Leaf Flower Heart Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Unisex Crystals Black Enamel Flower Leaf Heart Pendant Elegant Modernist Necklace, Gold Plated Very excellent condition. 100% Genuine.
Gold Plate, Enamel
Christian Dior Vintage Iconic Gold White Pearl Sunburst Crystals Snake Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s White Round Circle Pearl Sunburst Crystals Snake Chain Pendant Elegant Modernist Necklace, Gold Plated Very excellent condition.
Gold Plate
CHRISTIAN DIOR Vintage Gold Tone Sun Stars Pendant Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Nice, FR
CHRISTIAN DIOR vintage gold tone medallion necklace featuring a radiant sun face adorned with jewelled stars.
Gilt Metal
Christian Dior Vintage Gold Black Leopard Wide Woven Omega Chunky Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Unisex Black Enamel Leopard Pendant Wide Woven Mesh Omega Chunky Statement Necklace Collar Choker Necklace, Gold Plated Very good condition.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Iconic Gold Pearls Black Tassel Drop Mesh Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s White Water Tear Drop Pearls Crystals Black Tassel Openwork Pendant Elegant Modernist Mesh Omega Necklace, Gold Plated Very excellent condition.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Gold Iconic Topaz Citrine Crystals Water Drop Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Large Triangle Topaz Citrine Yellow Crystals Tear Water Drop Pendant Elegant Modenist Necklace, Gold Tone Very excellent condition. 100% Genuine.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Gold Rare Circle Rectangle CD Crystals Openwork Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Unisex Iconic Logo Circle Round CD Crystals Rectangle Openwork Pendant Necklace, Gold Plated Very good condition.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Rare Gold Crystals Large Triangle Square Chunky Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Large Triangle Arrow Square Crystals Pendant Necklace, Gold Tone Most of the same necklaces pendant you see is much smaller than this one.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Rare Unisex Gold Double Curled Leaf Crystals Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Unisex Vivid Textured Double Curled Leaf Crystals Pendant Elegant Necklace, Gold Tone Very excellent condition. 100% Genuine.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Rare Gold Black Crystals Water Drop Openwork Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Black Enamel Crystals Double Water Tear Drop Openwork Elegant Modernist Necklace, Gold Tone Renowned for its timeless elegant designs, Christian Dior pr...
Gold Plate, Enamel
Christian Dior Vintage Iconic Gold Pearls Crystals White Moon Fan Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s White Pearls Balls Circle Round Moon Fan Crystals Pendant Elegant Modernist Necklace, Gold Tone Very good condition.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Iconic Gold Sapphire Crystals Pendant Water Drop Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Sapphire Navy Blue Crystals Water Tear Drop Pendant Necklace, Gold Tone Very good condition.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Gold Matte Frost White Shell Crystals Cabochon Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Unisex Symmetric Matte Frost White Shell Cabochon Shining Crystals Chunky Necklace, Gold Plated Very excellent condition. 100% Genuine.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Gold Pearl Square Crystals Button Mesh Omega Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s White Pearl Square Round Crystals Pendant Button Omega Snake Mesh Choker Necklace, Gold Plated Very excellent condition.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Gold Wide Chunky Crystals Woven Omega Mesh Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Unisex Shining Crystals Pendant Wide Chunky Woven Mesh Omega Collar Choker Necklace, Gold Plated Very excellent condition.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Gold Rare Adjustable Omega Ribbed Snake Choker Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Unisex Classic Iconic Omega Ribbed Adjustable Snake Collar Choker Modernist Necklace, Gold Plated Very good condition.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Iconic Gold Black Knot Bow Mesh Interlocked Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Unisex Black Enamel Crystals Knot Bow Interlocked Pendant Mesh Woven Modernist Elegant Necklace, Gold Tone Very good condition.
Gold Plate
Vintage Christian Dior Gold Choker Necklace with Dangling Balls
By Christian Dior
Located in New York, NY
Vintage Dior Gold Choker Necklace with Dangling Balls Circa 2000.
Mixed Metal
Christian Dior Vintage Gold White Oval Pearl Crystals Linked Pendant Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Symmetric White Oval Pearl Crystals Interlocked Linked Pendant Elegant Modenrist Necklace, Gold Plated Very excellent condition.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Gold Large Oval Amethyst Purple Openwork Heart Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Large Oval Amethyst Purple Crystals Heart Love Openwork Pendant Choker Necklace, Gold Tone Very good condition.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Gold White Beads Pearls Crystals Pendant Chain Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s White Beads Pearls Crystals Pendant Chain Modernist Elegant Necklace, Gold Plated Very excellent condition.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Gold Unisex Cream White Long Triangle Pendant Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s White Cream Long Triangle Enamel Pendant Modernist Elegant Necklace, Gold Plated Very excellent condition. 100% Genuine.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Gold Unisex Swirl Wavy Conch Crystals Pendant Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Unisex Swirl Wavy Conch Crystals Pendant Elegant Modernist Necklace, Gold Tone Very good condition.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Gold White Beads Pearls Round Oval Crystals Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s White Beads Round Circle Oval Pearls Crystals Pendant Elegant Necklace, Gold Plated Very good condition.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Iconic Gold White Custard Shield Crystals Chunky Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Unisex Custard Beige Shield Crystals Chunky Pendant Necklace, Gold Tone Very good condition.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage 1970 Gold Crystals Black Clear Cluster Flowers Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1970s Haute Couture Large Black Clear Cluster Flowers Leaf Whole Shining Sparkling Crystals Crystals Crescent Pendant Elegant Necklace, Gold Plated Very excel...
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Gold Light Beige Yellow Oval Rectangle Pendant Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Unisex Beige Light Yellow Oval Rectangle Pendant Modernist Long Necklace, Gold Tone Very good condition. 100% Genuine.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Gold Unisex White Square Egyptian Pendant Cuban Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s White Enamel Trio Square Rectangle Egyptian Pendant Cuban Modernist Necklace, Gold Plated Very good condition.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Gold Iris White Pearl Flower Openwork Pendant Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Iris White Pearl Flower Openwork Pendant Elegant Necklace, Gold Tone Very good condition.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Gold White Pearl Water Drop Marquise Crystals Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1970s White Clear Water Drop Pearl Marquise Crystals Pendant Elegant Necklace, Gold Plated Good condition.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Gold Flower White Pearl Crystals Clover Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Flower White Pearl Crystals Pendant Elegant Modernist Necklace, Gold Plated Very excellent condition. 100% Genuine.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Gripoix Red Ruby Diamond Ribbed Omega Gold Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Unisex Red Ruby Gripoix Diamond Crystals Adjustable Ribbed Omega Choker Collar Elegant Modernist Necklace, Gold Plated Very good condition.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Gold Ribbed Omega Snake Ripple Choker Chunky Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Unisex Geometric Pendant Ribbed Omega Snake Choker Collar Modernist Chunky Statement Necklace, Gold Plated Very good condition.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Rare Gold Baroque Heart Love Knot Openwork Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Baroque Heart Love Knot Openwork Pendant Elegant Modernist Necklace, Gold Tone Very excellent condition. 100% Genuine.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Gold White Round Pearls Crystals Trio Cluster Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980 White Round Pearls Crystals Trio Cluster Pendant Elegant Necklace, Gold Plated Very excellent condition.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Gold White Pearl Crystals Flower Sunburst Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Flower Sunburst Crystals White Round Pearl Pendant Elegant Necklace, Gold Plated Very excellent condition. 100% Genuine.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Iconic Gold Black Enamel Flower Leaf Crystals Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Unisex Black Enamel Flower Leaf Crystals Pendant Modernist Necklace, Gold Plated Very excellent condition. 100% Genuine.
Gold Plate, Enamel
Christian Dior Vintage Gold Ribbed Omega White Pearl Crystals Openwork Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Ribbed White Oval Pearl Crystals Openwork Interlocked Triangle Large Pendant Omega Collar Choker Necklace, Gold Tone Very good condition.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Rare Gold Purple Amethyst Ribbed Triangle Omega Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Ribbed Amethyst Purple Diamond Crystals Triangle Pendant Omega Collar Choker Necklace, Gold Tone Very excellent condition. 100% Genuine.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Rare Gold Interlocked Cross X Crystals Omega Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Unisex Interlocked Knot Cross Crystals Pendant Adjustable Omega Collar Choker Necklace, Gold Plated Very excellent condition.
Gold Plate
CHRISTIAN DIOR Boutique Vintage Gold Tone Wavy Link Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Nice, FR
CHRISTIAN DIOR Boutique vintage gold tone necklace featuring wavy links.
Gilt Metal
Christian Dior Vintage Rare Gold Ruby Crystals Ribbed Interlocked Omega Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Ruby Red Square Cube Clear Round Crystals Interlocked Bow Ribbed Omega Chunky Necklace, Gold Tone Very excellent condition.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Rare Blue Sapphire Crystals Omega Mesh Gold Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Sapphire Navy Blue Peacock Feather Tear Water Drop Crystals Triangle Openwork Pendant Omega Mesh Woven Collar Choker Necklace, Gold Tone Very excellent ...
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Rare Gold Black Crystals Arrow Triangle Pendant Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1970s Unisex Black Enamel Crystals Arrow Triangle Pendant Necklace, Gold Tone Very good condition. 100% Genuine.
Gold Plate
CHRISTIAN DIOR Chunky Gold Tone ID Tag Curb Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Nice, FR
CHRISTIAN DIOR chunky gold tone necklace featuring curb links and ID tag embossed DIOR.
Gilt Metal
Christian Dior Vintage Iconic Gold Black Enamel Twist Crescent Pendant Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1970s Black Enamel Twist Long Bar Crystals Crescent Modenist Elegant Necklace, Gold Plated Very excellent condition. 100% Genuine.
Gold Plate, Enamel
Christian Dior Vintage Iconic Unisex Gold Triangle White Enamel Pendant Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Unisex Triangle Swirl Cream Enamel Pendant Elegant Modernist Necklace, Gold Tone Very good condition.
Gold Plate, Enamel
Christian Dior Vintage Rare Gripoix Green Emerald Gold Water Drop Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage Gripoix Emerald Marble Green Tear Water Drop Black Enamel Crystals Pendant Openwork Elegant Necklace, Gold Plated Very excellent condition.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Rare Gold Crystals Bib Omega Snake Interlinked Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Unisex Interlinked Crystals Trio Bar Bib Pendant Omega Snake Link Omega Collar Choker Necklace, Gold Plated Very excellent condition.
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Rare Gripoix Emerald Ruby Sapphire Gold Omega Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Unisex Sapphire Emerald Ruby Gripoix Crystals Diamond Triangle Pendant Openwork Ribbed Snake Omega Choker Adjustable Elegant Modernist Necklace, Gold Ton...
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Rare Gold Amethyst Purple Crystals Water Drop Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Textured Amethyst Purple Asymmetric Crystals Tear Water Drop Pendant Elegant Necklace, Gold Plated Very good condition. 100% Genuine.
Gold Plate
When Christian Dior launched his couture house, in 1946, he wanted nothing less than to make “an elegant woman more beautiful and a beautiful woman more elegant.” He succeeded, and in doing so the visionary designer altered the landscape of 20th century fashion. Vintage Dior bags, shoes, evening dresses, shirts and other garments and accessories are known today for their feminine and sophisticated sensibility.
Dior was born in Granville, on the Normandy coast, in 1905. His prosperous haute bourgeois parents wanted him to become a diplomat despite his interest in art and architecture. However, they agreed to bankroll an art gallery, which Dior opened in 1928 in Paris with a friend.
This was the start of Dior’s rise in the city’s creative milieu, where he befriended Pablo Picasso and Jean Cocteau. After seven years as an art dealer, Dior retrained as a fashion illustrator, eventually landing a job as a fashion designer for Robert Piguet, and in 1941, following a year of military service, he joined the house of Lucien Lelong. Just five years later, with the backing of industrialist Marcel Boussac, the ascendant Dior established his own fashion house, at 30 avenue Montaigne in Paris.
Just two years after the end of World War II, the fashion crowd and the moribund haute couture industry were yearning, comme tout Paris, for security and prosperity, desperate to discard the drab, sexless, utilitarian garb imposed by wartime deprivation. They needed to dream anew.
And Dior delivered: He designed a collection for a bright, optimistic future. “It’s quite a revolution, dear Christian!” exclaimed Carmel Snow, the prescient American editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar, famously proclaiming, “Your dresses have such a new look.” The press ran with the description, christening Dior’s debut Spring/Summer haute couture collection the New Look. “God help those who bought before they saw Dior,” said Snow. “This changes everything.”
Dior’s collection definitively declared that opulence, luxury and femininity were in. His skirts could have 40-meter-circumference hems, and outfits could weigh up to 60 pounds. They were cut and shaped like architecture, on strong foundations that molded women and “freed them from nature,” Dior said. Rather than rationing, his ladies wanted reams of fabric and 19-inch waists enforced by wire corsets, and the fashion world concurred. The debut got a standing ovation.
In the subsequent decade, Paris ruled as the undisputed fashion capital of the world, and Christian Dior reigned as its king. With the luxuriously full skirts of his New Look, suits and his drop-dead gorgeous couture dresses and ball gowns worthy of any princess, Dior gave women the gift of glamour they’d lost in the miserable years of war.
On 1stDibs, find an exquisite range of vintage Christian Dior clothing, jewelry, handbags and other items.
Gold is the feel-good metal, the serotonin of jewelry. Wear vintage and antique gold necklaces, watches, gold bracelets or gold rings and you feel happy, you feel dressed, you feel, well, yourself.
Gold, especially yellow gold, with its rich patina and ancient pedigree going back thousands of years, is the steady standby, the well-mannered metal of choice. Any discussion of this lustrous metal comes down to a basic truth: Gold is elementary, my dear. Gold jewelry that couples the mystique of the metal with superb design and craftsmanship achieves the status of an enduring classic. Many luxury houses have given us some of our most treasured and lasting examples of gold jewelry over the years.
Since its founding, in 1837, Tiffany & Co. has built its reputation on its company jewelry as well as its coterie of boutique designers, which has included Jean Schlumberger, Donald Claflin, Angela Cummings and Elsa Peretti. There are numerous gold Tiffany classics worth citing. Some are accented with gemstones, but all stand out for their design and the workmanship displayed.
For the woman who prefers a minimalist look, the Tiffany & Co. twist bangle (thin, slightly ovoid) is stylishly simple. For Cummings devotees, signature pieces feature hard stone inlay, such as her pairs of gold ear clips inlaid with black jade (a play on the classic Chanel black and tan), or bangles whose design recalls ocean waves, with undulating lines of lapis lazuli and mother-of-pearl. And just about any design by the great Jean Schlumberger is by definition a classic.
Even had he eschewed stones and diamonds, Southern-born David Webb would be hailed for the vast arsenal of heavy gold jewelry he designed. Gold, usually hammered or textured in some manner, defines great David Webb jewelry. The self-taught jeweler made very au courant pieces while drawing inspiration from ancient and out-of-the-way sources — East meets West in the commanding gold necklaces made by Webb in the early 1970s. The same could be said for his endlessly varied gold cuffs.
In Europe, many houses have given us gold jewelry that sets the highest standard for excellence, pieces that were highly sought after when they were made and continue to be so.
Numerous designs from Cartier are homages to gold. There are the classic Trinity rings, necklaces and bracelets — trifectas of yellow, white and rose gold. As a testament to the power of love, consider the endurance of the Cartier Love bracelet.
Aldo Cipullo, Cartier’s top in-house designer from the late 1960s into the early ’70s, made history in 1969 with the Love bracelet. Cipullo frequently said that the Love bracelet was born of a sleepless night contemplating a love affair gone wrong and his realization that “the only remnants he possessed of the romance were memories.” He distilled the urge to keep a loved one close into a slim 18-karat gold bangle.
BVLGARI and its coin jewelry, gemme nummarie, hit the jackpot when the line launched in the 1960s. The line has been perennially popular. BVLGARI coin jewelry features ancient Greek and Roman coins embedded in striking gold mounts, usually hung on thick link necklaces of varying lengths. In the 1970s, BVLGARI introduced the Tubogas line, most often made in yellow gold. The Tubogas watches are classics, and then there is the Serpenti, the house's outstanding snake-themed watches and bracelets.
A collection called Monete that incorporated the gold coins is one of several iconic BVLGARI lines that debuted in the 1970s and ’80s, catering to a new generation of empowered women. Just as designers like Halston and Yves Saint Laurent were popularizing fuss-free ready-to-wear fashion for women on the go, BVLGARI offered jewels to be lived in.
Since Van Cleef & Arpels opened its Place Vendôme doors in 1906, collection after collection of jewelry classics have enchanted the public. As predominantly expressed in a honeycomb of gold, there is the Ludo watch and accessories, circa the 1920s, and the golden Zip necklace, 1951, whose ingenious transformation of the traditional zipper was originally proposed by the Duchess of Windsor. Van Cleef's Alhambra, with its Moroccan motif, was introduced in 1968 and from the start its popularity pivoted on royalty and celebrity status. It remains one of VCA’s most popular and collected styles.
Mention must be made of Buccellati, whose name is synonymous with gold so finely spun that it suggests tapestry. The house’s many gold bracelets, typically embellished with a few or many diamonds, signified taste and distinction and are always in favor on the secondary market. Other important mid-20th-century houses known for their gold-themed jewelry include Hermès and Ilias Lalaounis.
Find a stunning collection of vintage and antique gold jewelry on 1stDibs.
We are fortunate to know much of the world’s long and dazzling history of necklaces, as this type of jewelry was so treasured that it was frequently buried with its owners. Today, Van Cleef necklaces, Tiffany necklaces and Cartier necklaces are some of the most popularly searched designer necklaces on 1stDibs.
Lapis lazuli beads adorned necklaces unearthed from the royal graves at the ancient Iraqi civilization of Sumer, while the excavation of King Tut’s burial chamber revealed a sense of style that led to a frenzy of Art Deco designs, with artisans of the 1920s seeking to emulate the elegant work crafted by Ancient Egypt’s goldsmiths and jewelry makers.
In ancient times, pendant necklaces worn by royalty and nobles conferred wealth and prestige. Today, wearing jewelry is about personal expression: Luxury diamond necklaces exude confidence and can symbolize the celebratory nature of a deep romantic relationship, while paper-clip chain-link necklaces designed by the likes of goldsmith Faye Kim are firmly planted in the past as well as the present. Kim works exclusively with eco-friendly gold, and these fashionable, fun accessories owe to the design of 19th-century watch fobs.
For some, necklaces are thought of as being a solely feminine piece, but this widely loved accessory has been gender-neutral for eons. In fact, just as women rarely took to wearing a single necklace during the Renaissance, men of the era layered chains and valuable pendants atop their bejeweled clothing. In modern times, the free-spirited hippie and counterculture movements of the 1960s saw costume-jewelry designers celebrating self-expression through colorful multistrand necklaces and no shortage of beads, which were worn by anyone and everyone.
Even after all of these years, the necklace remains an irrefutable staple of any complete outfit. Although new trends in jewelry are constantly emerging, the glamour and beauty of the past continue to inform modern styles and designs. In a way, the cyclical history of the necklace differs little from its familiar looped form: The celebrated French jewelry house Van Cleef & Arpels found much inspiration in King Tut, and, now, their Alhambra collection is a go-to for modern royals. Vintage David Webb necklaces — whose work landed him on the cover of Vogue in 1950, two years after opening his Manhattan shop — were likely inspired by the ornamental styles of ancient Greece, Mesopotamia and Egypt.
On 1stDibs, browse top designers like Dior, Chanel and Bulgari, or shop by your favorite style, from eye-catching choker necklaces to understated links to pearl necklaces and more.