Modern Collectible Jewelry
The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw sweeping social change and major scientific advances — both of which contributed to a new aesthetic: modernism. Rejecting the rigidity of Victorian artistic conventions, modernists sought a new means of expression. References to the natural world and ornate classical embellishments gave way to the sleek simplicity of the Machine Age. Architect Philip Johnson characterized the hallmarks of modernism as “machine-like simplicity, smoothness or surface [and] avoidance of ornament.”
Early practitioners of modernist design include the De Stijl (“The Style”) group, founded in the Netherlands in 1917, and the Bauhaus School, founded two years later in Germany.
Followers of both groups produced sleek, spare designs — many of which became icons of daily life in the 20th century. The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics. While Bauhaus principals Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe created furniture from mass-produced, chrome-plated steel, American visionaries like Charles and Ray Eames worked in materials as novel as molded plywood and fiberglass. Today, Breuer’s Wassily chair, Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chair — crafted with his romantic partner, designer Lilly Reich — and the Eames lounge chair are emblems of progressive design and vintage originals are prized cornerstones of collections.
It’s difficult to overstate the influence that modernism continues to wield over designers and architects — and equally difficult to overstate how revolutionary it was when it first appeared a century ago. But because modernist furniture designs are so simple, they can blend in seamlessly with just about any type of décor. Don’t overlook them.
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Collectible Jewelry
Metal
1990s European Modern Collectible Jewelry
Copper
1970s Israeli Vintage Modern Collectible Jewelry
Gold
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Collectible Jewelry
Silver
2010s American Modern Collectible Jewelry
Sterling Silver
Late 20th Century American Modern Collectible Jewelry
Stone, Gold
1940s French Vintage Modern Collectible Jewelry
Bronze
1970s Israeli Vintage Modern Collectible Jewelry
Gold
Late 20th Century American Modern Collectible Jewelry
Gold
1970s Peruvian Vintage Modern Collectible Jewelry
Sterling Silver
1970s Peruvian Vintage Modern Collectible Jewelry
Stone, Sterling Silver
Mid-20th Century Mexican Modern Collectible Jewelry
Sterling Silver
Late 20th Century American Modern Collectible Jewelry
Metal
20th Century French Modern Collectible Jewelry
Cotton
1980s American Vintage Modern Collectible Jewelry
Metal, Brass
20th Century Unknown Modern Collectible Jewelry
Pewter
Late 20th Century Israeli Modern Collectible Jewelry
Gold
1950s French Vintage Modern Collectible Jewelry
Bronze, Enamel
1960s Peruvian Vintage Modern Collectible Jewelry
Sterling Silver
20th Century Unknown Modern Collectible Jewelry
Gold
20th Century Portuguese Modern Collectible Jewelry
Gold
20th Century North American Modern Collectible Jewelry
Sterling Silver
Late 20th Century North American Modern Collectible Jewelry
Gold
1970s American Vintage Modern Collectible Jewelry
Gold