A sparkling taste of cool Britannia
02 March 2022 Once the victims of fashion, collectors in the current market are clamouring once more for pieces made by British jewellers in the 1960s and 1970s. These were the decades that changed British post-war jewellery.
Arthur King topaz crystal, gold and diamond brooch/pendant and earclips, 1960s - £1500-2000 at Bonhams.
Andrew Grima agate crystal brooch wrapped in an 18 carat gold ribbon,1973 - £1000-1500 at Bonhams.
The 1961 International Exhibition of Modern Jewellery, organised jointly by the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths and the Victoria & Albert Museum, was key.
While the exhibition included pieces from as early as the 1890s, the aim was to reinvigorate the British jewellery trade after Second World War austerity. It is best remembered today for the new work shown by the contemporary designers and makers that helped put the swing into the Sixties.
The 'artist jewellers’ that emerged in 1961 – names such as Andrew Grima, John Donald, Arthur King, Alan Martin Gard and Gillian Packard – challenged the conventions of ‘classical’ jewellery design.
They experimented with new technologies to achieve texture, championed craftsmanship in a time of mass production and, above all, debunked the tradition that haute joaillerie could only be made from the most precious materials.
Diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds were still used, but often they took a backseat to more 'humble' materials such as a slice of agate, a turquoise cabochon, or a rough crystal.
Sixties and Seventies jewellery is still immensely wearable and contemporary today. While it's well known that the following decades were not kind to such ground-breaking British jewellery design (once cutting-edge creations were, at best, relegated to the bottom of jewellery boxes or, worse, the melting pot). But, like so much of post-war decorative arts, they have roared back into fashion.
A large private collection of jewellery made during the second half of the 20th century comes for sale at Bonhams as part of its Knightsbridge Jewels sale on March 9. Bidders using the saleroom.com enjoy 0% online commission.
The collection, formed over several decades, represents the creative breadth of the period as well as the collector's appreciation of jewellery as art.
Alan Martin Gard 18 carat gold ring and earring suite of textured ribbon design, 1970 - £800-1200 at Bonhams.
Silver collar designed as a swirling vortex by Anthony Hawkins, 1965-66 - £800-1200 at Bonhams.
Kutchinsky cabochon sapphire, turquoise and gold brooch and earring suite, 1962 - £2500-3500 at Bonhams.
John Donald cabochon emerald and diamond ring set in an openwork abstract 18 carat gold surround, 1966 - £1000-1500 at Bonhams.
Alan Martin Gard cabochon ruby and diamond ring in an openwork 18 carat gold textured foliate mount, 1969 - £1500-2000 at Bonhams.