The essentials of the Belle Époque period

Following the war of 1870 and the fall of the Empire, France experienced a major economic crisis from 1873 to 1896. Despite the fact that foreigners, particularly Americans, partly compensated for the problems of the French market, the period was not, however, favourable to jewellery.

The Belle Époque style will only appear in the middle of the 1890s, at the same time as Art Nouveau. The expression "Belle Epoque" was created in the 1920s to describe these years of economic, social and technological development. 

The Belle Époque style is also called “garland" Or "Edwardian” in reference to Edward VII, who reigned over the world from 1901 to 1910. The master of the garland style, Louis Cartier, was also followed by other major jewelry houses from 1910 such as Boucheron, Van Cleef & Arpels or Chaumet.

Sources of inspiration from the Belle period Eera

Just like they were for the period Art Nouveau, the French decorative arts of the 18th century are at the origin of the Belle Époque period.

These jewels are characterized by their finesse, their airy composition but also the use of platinum. They are equipped with forms aimed at reproducing the textile: ribbons, bows, crosses.

Beautiful Eera: more than just jewelry…

The Beauty Eera is characterized by classic jewelry in matte or satin yellow gold, and very stoned. Jewelry techniques are refined, in particular the setting of precious stones which is done with platinum very recently discovered in 1867 in deposits in South Africa. The production of these jewels requires great skill, the platinum being difficult to work manually. This metal is particularly used for two highly prized gems: the pearl and the diamond. 

During this period, emblematic jewels such as tourbillon rings also appeared, You & Me, but also transformable necklace jewelry (necklaces or tiaras becoming a brooch). Indeed, according to L'Illustration, written in 1898, it is said that: “To meet the desires and needs of the woman who always wants to vary the destination of her jewelry, the pieces of jewelry are generally combined in such a way as to allow numerous transformations”. 

The First World War put an end to this Belle Époque style and had a significant influence on the'Art Deco, a period after Art Nouveau, which it completely contradicts.

You might also like to read our articles on other key periods in jewelry
The essentials of the period Art Deco
The essentials of the Art Nouveau period
The Retro period, an important revolution