Louis Aucoc French Art Nouveau Diamond And Gold Portrait Brooch, Circa 1900

An antique bracelet consisting of connecting swirling links, with applied platinum grain settings set with rose-cut diamonds, fastened by a push-in tongue clasp and safety chain, wit...

An antique ruby and diamond crescent brooch, with an outer row of oval and cushion faceted rubies, graduating from the centre, set in gold, in grains and cut down settings on the out...

An Edwardian sapphire and diamond circle brooch, with seven faceted round sapphires, alternating with silver scrolls, each set with three rose-cut diamonds, mounted in gold, circa 19...

An antique opal and diamond brooch, with a claw set buff top cut opal, with predominantly red play of colour, mounted in gold, with silver claws, with four groups of three old-cut di...

Signed Art Nouveau gold brooch set with rose cut diamonds. Set with eleven round rose cut diamonds in closed back grain settings with a combined approximate weight of 0.06 carats, to...

Vintage art nouveau circa 1900s Profile of a women brooch pin. Lovely lady in a bonnet. You can attach a chain to the back to wear as a pendant. Crafted i...

18ct gold & silver set Art Nouveau Diamond Opal Pendant/Brooch dated circa 1900 Five round opals with an articulated pear shaped opal drop, very well matched with lively play of colours and iridescence in reds, greens, blues and gold. Set in 18 carat yellow gold claw collets Two main transitional cut (old mine) diamonds 0.70ct. Mix of old mine and rose cut diamonds in an 18 carat yellow gold with “silver Set” channel setting , approx 1 ct total. G/H/I, VS2-SI2. Total diamond weight: approx 1.7carats Setting diamonds in gold with a thin layer of silver, “silver set”, was a technique used in the Georgian/Victorian/Art Nouveau period as white coloured gold and platinum were not yet available. A very thin layer of silver was applied to the gold, on which the diamonds were set, to show them off to their best advantage (as the yellow would reflect and distort the white colour of the diamonds). The Art Nouveau period was a short lived but worldwide movement which reached its peak at the end of the 19th Century and the first decade of the 20th Century. It had its roots in the Pre Raphaelite and Arts and Crafts movements in Britain in the 1860’s. Artists, such as William Morris, took their inspiration from the flora and fauna of nature and rejected the mass industrialisation and mechanisation of the Victorian age. Art Nouveau continued with this theme and has a distinctive appearance with soft, curved shapes and lines and often depicted natural designs such as flowers, birds and the female form. Before the Art Nouveau period, the emphasis had been to design pieces with an emphasis on gem stones, diamonds, rubies emeralds etc. However, during the Art Nouveau period, jewellers adopted the idea of using other semi–precious stones “from nature” such as agate, garnet opal, moonstone, aquamarine and experimented with a wide variety of new techniques e.g. enamelling. The “New Art” style became a worldwide movement encompassing all disciplines of the arts, and world class artists as far afield as Gaudi with his “modernisme” architecture in Spain, Louis Comfort Tiffany in New York with objects, Galle Glass in France and the Liberty & Co Archibald Knox designs in Britain, Jugendstil in Northern Europe and Faberge in Russia. The movement flared brightly but briefly and by 1910 it was already going out of style to be replaced by Art Deco. Detachable 18ct brooch...

Art Nouveau 18K Diamond Brooch, C.1900. The brooch of oval pierced foliate design, the main floral petal set in the centre with a small old cut diamond. Trombone clasp...