Modern Jewelry
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.
Late 20th Century Unknown Modern Jewelry
Diamond, Blue Sapphire, Sapphire, Platinum
2010s European Modern Jewelry
Amethyst, Emerald, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Tsavorite, 14k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Thai Modern Jewelry
Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, 14k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Jewelry
Ruby, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Gold, 14k Gold, White Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Jewelry
Diamond, White Diamond, Blue Sapphire, Yellow Sapphire, Gold, 18k Gold
2010s American Modern Jewelry
Diamond, Blue Sapphire, Platinum
2010s Italian Modern Jewelry
Blue Sapphire, White Diamond, Diamond, White Gold, 18k Gold
2010s Indian Modern Jewelry
Diamond, Ruby, Blue Sapphire, Tanzanite, 18k Gold, White Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Thai Modern Jewelry
Blue Sapphire, 18k Gold, White Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Thai Modern Jewelry
Blue Sapphire, White Gold, 18k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Thai Modern Jewelry
Blue Sapphire, 18k Gold, White Gold
Late 20th Century Swiss Modern Jewelry
Blue Sapphire, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Japanese Modern Jewelry
Blue Sapphire, Sapphire, Diamond, Platinum
2010s American Modern Jewelry
Blue Sapphire, Sapphire, Opal, Blue Diamond, Diamond, Gold, Yellow Gold,...
2010s Unknown Modern Jewelry
Diamond, White Diamond, Blue Sapphire, 18k Gold, White Gold, Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Jewelry
Blue Sapphire, White Gold
2010s American Modern Jewelry
Diamond, Blue Sapphire, White Gold, Gold, 14k Gold, 18k Gold
2010s Swiss Modern Jewelry
Diamond, Blue Sapphire, Topaz, Gold, 18k Gold
2010s Italian Modern Jewelry
Diamond, White Diamond, Blue Sapphire, Platinum
2010s Italian Modern Jewelry
Diamond, White Diamond, Blue Sapphire, 18k Gold, White Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Jewelry
Blue Sapphire, White Gold
2010s Unknown Modern Jewelry
Blue Sapphire, White Diamond, Diamond, Gold, White Gold, 18k Gold
2010s American Modern Jewelry
Blue Sapphire, Blue Diamond, White Diamond, Diamond, White Gold, 18k Gold
2010s Indian Modern Jewelry
White Diamond, Tourmaline, Tsavorite, Blue Sapphire, 18k Gold, White Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Jewelry
Diamond, Purple Sapphire, Green Sapphire, Yellow Sapphire, Pink Sapphire...
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Jewelry
Blue Sapphire, White Gold
2010s Indian Modern Jewelry
White Diamond, Blue Sapphire, Tourmaline, Tsavorite, 18k Gold, White Gold
2010s Italian Modern Jewelry
Blue Sapphire, White Diamond, Diamond, Platinum
2010s Italian Modern Jewelry
Blue Sapphire, Sapphire, White Diamond, Diamond, Platinum
2010s Sri Lankan Modern Jewelry
Blue Sapphire, Diamond, 18k Gold, White Gold
Late 20th Century Sri Lankan Modern Jewelry
Diamond, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, 18k Gold, White Gold
2010s Swiss Modern Jewelry
Diamond, Blue Sapphire, Pink Sapphire, Purple Sapphire, 18k Gold
2010s Italian Modern Jewelry
Blue Sapphire, Sapphire
1990s Hong Kong Modern Jewelry
Blue Sapphire, Sapphire, Diamond, White Gold, 18k Gold
2010s Italian Modern Jewelry
Diamond, White Diamond, Blue Sapphire, Platinum
2010s Italian Modern Jewelry
Blue Sapphire, White Diamond, Diamond, Yellow Gold, White Gold, 18k Gold
2010s Italian Modern Jewelry
Blue Sapphire, Sapphire, White Diamond, Diamond, 18k Gold
2010s Italian Modern Jewelry
Blue Sapphire, Sapphire, White Diamond, Diamond, 18k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Jewelry
Blue Sapphire, Sapphire, Diamond, 18k Gold, Gold
2010s American Modern Jewelry
Blue Sapphire, Sapphire, Diamond, White Gold, 18k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Thai Modern Jewelry
Blue Sapphire, 18k Gold, White Gold
2010s American Modern Jewelry
Diamond, Blue Sapphire, 18k Gold
2010s Italian Modern Jewelry
Blue Sapphire, White Diamond, Diamond, White Gold, 18k Gold
2010s European Modern Jewelry
Emerald, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Tsavorite, 14k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Thai Modern Jewelry
Blue Sapphire, 18k Gold, White Gold
2010s Italian Modern Jewelry
Diamond, White Diamond, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Platinum
2010s Italian Modern Jewelry
Diamond, White Diamond, Blue Sapphire, 14k Gold, White Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Thai Modern Jewelry
Blue Sapphire, 18k Gold, White Gold
Mid-20th Century Unknown Modern Jewelry
Diamond, White Diamond, Ruby, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Gold, 14k Gold, Y...
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Jewelry
Diamond, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Gold, 18k Gold, White Gold
2010s English Modern Jewelry
Blue Sapphire, Sapphire, Diamond, White Gold, 18k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Malagasy Modern Jewelry
Blue Sapphire
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Jewelry
Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Gold, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Jewelry
Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Gold, 14k Gold, White Gold
Mid-20th Century Unknown Modern Jewelry
Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Gold, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Hong Kong Modern Jewelry
Diamond, Blue Sapphire, Rose Gold
2010s American Modern Jewelry
Diamond, Blue Sapphire, Platinum
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Jewelry
Diamond, Opal, Blue Sapphire, Pink Sapphire, 18k Gold