Estate Dealer Irvine

Since part of the allure of diamonds, emeralds, sapphires and rubies lie in their legends and their lore; it is perfectly understandable why some prospective buyers would choose to consult an estate dealer. Irvine in Orange County might be as great a place as any, to look at buying pre-owned jewellery of high quality. There are many distinctive periods in history to choose from. The twentieth century alone has seen several unique styles of jewellery, each with its own attraction.

Although sometimes difficult to identify, jewellery from the first decade of the twentieth century is celebrated for its exquisite beauty and sought after by any estate dealer, Irvine to Irkutsk. The Art Nouveau movement was first introduced at the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1900. The emphasis was on reviving superior craftsmanship, favouring design over material. Nature motifs, such as butterflies, dragonflies, orchids, irises and water lilies dominated in this period as in the Victorian era, but often incorporated the fantasy elements of hybrid beings.

When King Edward VIII succeeded his mother for a brief nine-year reign, mourning jewellery gave way to new extravagance and sophistication. Platinum was a favourite medium, its strength lending itself beautifully to thin lightweight styles of which the knife-edge wires and lace-like pieces were but two examples. Another fine example of the same principle was the crafting of a shape as simple as the Victorian bow, but producing it in a honeycomb pattern of fine mesh. Engagement rings of the period, which often featured filigree detail and contained diamonds shaped in classic cuts such as Old Mine or Old European, are popular even today with estate dealers, Irvine-based or further afield.

Assertive flapper fashions of the Roaring twenties favoured large flashy items of jewellery in the Art Deco style. Suiting the structure of the machine era, in the mind of an estate dealer, Irvine's planned layout might be comparable. Under the influence of the Cubism art movement, geometric gem cuts such as baguette, emerald and triangle proved to be best sellers. The Art Deco period borrowed from both Art Nouveau and Edwardian which preceded it, taking the stylised shapes of the former and the preference for diamonds and platinum from the latter.

The advent of World War II made platinum unavailable, leading to the revival of yellow gold in jewellery during the Retro period, but this was often combined with alloys favouring other colours such as rose or even green. That, at least, makes an easy pointer for your average estate dealer, Irvine or otherwise, to identify. With precious stones growing scarce, semi-precious stones from new locations such as South America was often used. Romantic motifs like bows, flowers, scrolls, ribbons, ruffles and fans, and patriotic ones such as eagles and flags, were often used.

Events also influenced trends. The discovery of King Tutankhamen's tomb in the year 1923 made gems like lapis lazuli, carnelian and chalcedony and motifs such as the sphinx, the falcon and the scarab very much in demand. Illegal cocktail parties of the time of Prohibition certainly contributed to the popularity and the conspicuously bulky cocktail ring, advertising the fashionable daring of its wearer. Interested? Just pay that estate dealer, Irvine or anywhere else a visit.