The essentials about the period Art Deco

The period Art Deco experienced its boom in the 1920s, born from the desire for a new future and transformation following the Great War. L'Art Deco succeeds Art Nouveau and offers geometric shapes, more strict and stylized, with a finesse and inventiveness of shapes which mark this important period for jewelry.

Exhibition of decorative arts, the major starting point

What marks the real growth of the movement Art Deco is the Exposition of Decorative Arts in 1925. A considerable event of more than 21 countries, it then contains 15,000 exhibitors and attracts more than 6 million exhibitors. The exhibition covers a large area of the city of Paris, the aim being to show that France is still present and motivated to revive the economy and the creation of luxury. Great is the desire to show that the war is indeed over, to present all the know-how and to implement the technical and manual capabilities to create such objects. L'Art Deco becomes a real architecture of jewelry. In this movement, we can then see that geometric shapes dominate, evoking the true identity of the latter through the stylization of shapes.

What characterizes a piece of jewelry Art Deco in 4 points

Inspirations: the cultural wealth of the world

L'Art Deco draws its inspiration from various horizons and particularly through world cultures. The major inspiration is African art which has a certain cultural richness that certain creators illustrate through different jewelry Art Deco. The other important inspiration is that of the pharaohs and more precisely the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun, filled with objects which therefore inspired the shapes as well as the motifs of theArt Deco. Finally, India as well as China and Japan also influenced this artistic movement in jewelry.

Geometric design: symmetry and cubism

Jewelry Art Deco are mainly recognized for their geometric shape. Jewelry belonging to this period is made of clean lines and simple shapes, the jewelry thus becoming symmetrical. As we stated previously, jewelry Art Deco come from several movements such as Cubism, Indian, Egyptian, Oriental or even African art, very obvious influences which fully characterize the jewelry Art Deco. We therefore talk about jewelry sculpture, or even jewelry architecture.

Metals: white gold and platinum

Concerning metals, jewelry Art Deco are made mainly of cool colors, such assilver, THE platinum or even white gold. These metals are often worked with the filigree method which requires good mastery of goldsmithing.

The stones: Predominance of black and white and a few colors...

In general, a piece of jewelry Art Deco is neutral colors, often composed of black or white. The black color is given by onyx or black enamel and the white is given by crystals or diamonds. However, color can also be found using blue sapphire, emerald and ruby. Finally, many designers add coral, jade or even lapis lazuli.

A period that all the major brands have illustrated

A jewelers' pavilion in 1925 was created after the decorative arts exhibition. Many creators then came together in the same space such as Boucheron, Chaumet, Mauboussin, Van Cleef and Arpels or Cartier in order to highlight their own jewelry pieces. It was one of the first times that so many creators came together in one place. It is from this moment that several creators will mark this period such as: Cartier, Boucheron, Van Cleef and Arpels, Mauboussin, Chaumet, Boivin or even Lacloche.

Until today, an inspiring period

The period Art Deco will end in 1935 but will continue to conquer the jewelry sector throughout the world, offering jewelry with its own identities. You can then find our jewelry collection Art Deco on our site 58 facettes.