A Guide to Early Victorian Romantic Period Jewelry

The Victorian Era began with horse-drawn carriages and candlelight and ended with automobiles and electricity. Historians often divide this long period into three parts: the Early Victorian or Romantic, the Middle Victorian or Grand, and the Late Victorian or Aesthetic periods.

Distinguishing Romantic Period Jewelry from Other Types of Victorian Jewelry

In terms of jewelry, each sub-period had different motifs, gems, metals, and fabrication techniques that rose and fell in popularity. However, some elements endured and saw transformations, some of which can help date a piece. For example, hair jewelry was worn in the Romantic Period, but its popularity reached its zenith during the Grand Period. Thus, the repoussé metal work of a dainty locket containing a lock of hair would pinpoint the piece as Romantic Period jewelry. On the other hand, a large, imposing brooch showcasing a dark gemstone, framed with braided hair, would most likely fall into the Grand Period.

What was the Romantic Period?

The Romantic Period (1837-1860) reflected the love of a nation for its young queen and her love for her husband, Prince Albert. His death in 1861 marked the end of the Early Victorian Period and the beginning of the Grand Period.

Notable Characteristics of Romantic Period Jewelry

During the Early Victorian period, the Industrial Revolution surged ahead. Factories opened at an unprecedented rate, and trades and industries flourished. Mass production meant jewelry was no longer made strictly by hand.

Romantic Period jewelry was very sentimental, often reflecting the new love of a young couple.

Jewelers frequently used 18k gold for their creations. However, before the California Gold Rush (1848-1855) alleviated a gold shortage in Britain, lower karats and gold plating were common.

Brooches fabricated during the Romantic Period had their pins extended past the body of the brooch. The fasteners had simple "C" design clasps.

Gemstones were often set in claw-like prongs or collet settings, metal that encircled the outer rim of the gemstone.

Metal Work

Repoussé was a common metal working technique of the Early Victorian period. It involved hammering malleable metal into intricate designs and patterns.

The popularity of cannetille continued from the late Georgian into the Romantic Period. It featured intricate wire work designs resembling embroidery-inspired filigree.

Jewelry metals commonly used during this period included the following:

• 18k to 22k gold in all colors except white
• Rolled gold (gold sheets soldered to base metal sheets)
• Gold electroplate (thinner sheets of gold fused to a base metal)
• Pinchbeck (83% copper and 17% zinc)
• Aluminum
• Cut steel

Motifs

Popular motifs included the following: eyes, hands, hearts, anchors, crosses, arrows, clovers, love knots, garters, buckles, vines, and leaves. Seed pearls were frequently arranged in grape clusters. Enameling also enjoyed popularity.

The Romantic Period saw a renewed interest in Gothic and Medieval themes. Archeological excavations of Ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian sites also fascinated people. As a result, the jewelry of the period often reflected designs inspired by these eras.

France's presence in Algeria ushered Moorish motifs, such as knots and tassels, into Romantic Period jewelry. After Queen Victoria and Prince Albert purchased their Balmoral estate in Scotland, Scottish designs also became prevalent in jewelry.

Prince Albert's engagement ring to Queen Victoria featured a serpent with an emerald set in its head. As symbols of eternal love, snakes became very popular motifs in Early Victorian jewelry.

Popular Gemstones and Cutting Styles

Jewelers used a wide variety of gem materials during this period. Among the most popular were the following: agate, amber, amethyst, chalcedony, chrysoberyl, diamond, emerald, garnet, malachite, seed pearls, quartz, topaz, and turquoise.

Other materials frequently found in Romantic Period jewelry include ivory, lava stone, and tortoiseshell. Coral was also prized as a jewelry material. (The redder, the more expensive).

Gutta-percha, a sap from Malaysian trees, could be molded into durable pieces for jewelry use. Since this material had a brownish to black color, jewelers used it for mourning jewelry in particular. Vulcanized rubber was also used for similar jewelry purposes.

Hand-carved bog oak, Irish wood recovered from immersion in bogs, was used in jewelry until the 1850s.

Notable gem cutting styles included the following:

• Rose Cut: round shape with a domed top and flat bottom.
• Old Mine Cut: rounded square shape with many facets. Closely resembles today's modern round brilliant cut.
• Cabochon: rounded top and flat bottom.

What Were the Hot Items in Romantic Period Jewelry?

Large brooches as well as large, matching bracelets were all the rage.

Joining cameos and small paintings as a way to capture the likenesses of loved ones, daguerreotypes (early photographs) were sometimes added to brooches and watch fobs.

Acrostic Jewelry

Jewelry aficionados arranged gemstones in settings so the first letter of each gem spelled out an endearing word.

For example, the acrostic ring below contains a ruby, emerald, garnet, amethyst, ruby, and diamond, which spelled "REGARD." Pieces like this exemplify the sentimentality of Romantic Period jewelry.

Cameos

This ancient jewelry technique had a resurgence of popularity during Early Victorian times. Initially, tourists who visited archeological ruins in Italy brought them home as souvenirs. Jewelers made these from coral, shell, and lava stone.

This jewelry suite of a necklace, brooch, and bracelet features high-relief cameos carved from orangey pink coral in scalloped mountings. Coral also serves as links in the necklace with the 14k yellow gold (and gives the piece an interesting twist). The well-done carvings show fine details, and the coral has excellent color consistency.

Chatelaines

Before purses or pockets, people carried their important tools or accessories dangling from pins or hooks attached to their belts. Decorative as well as practical, these belts, known as chatelaines, could hold scissors, watches, writing instruments, notebooks, eyeglasses, etc. (They enjoyed widespread use until the 1900s).

Slide Chains

These decorative chains to drape over bodices could reach considerable lengths.

For example, this 63" slide chain features an enameled shield-shaped slide with pearls, which enables the wearer to double the finely textured 14k yellow gold-filled chain. The finely detailed slide and the length of the intricately detailed chain make this piece rare and valuable.

Girandoles

These drop, cluster style earrings featured three dangling gemstones.

The opulent girandole earrings below feature ten cabochon-cut opals accented by twelve emeralds and eight Old Mine-cut diamonds. The 18k yellow gold earrings have cannetille wire work. The combination of the gems' sheer weight and the cannetille makes these earrings extremely rare.

Hair Jewelry

Another example of Early Victorian sentimentality, lockets, watch fobs, and brooches that contained a loved one's locks were quite popular.

This charming, dainty 14k yellow gold locket features an Old Mine diamond in the center. Cabochon-cut turquoise stones in repoussé metal work surround it. The clear back of the locket reveals hair arranged in a heart shape.