As you may remember from our last chat , Edwardian Jewelery is jewelery that was produced during the reign of King Edward VII of England. He held the throne from 1901-1915. One often finds disparity in specific dates for the Edwardian era. Some scholars use the exact dates in which he ruled , others include the ten years prior to his coronation . Some insist that the era ends with the onset of WWI in 1914 but yet others state that it ended in 1915. As with any style there always seem to be an overlap . One does not see exact cut off dates.When dating jewelery I find the term”circa ” very useful in that it allows for an approximation of dates.
The Edwardian era is often referred to as the garland style. It is exuberantly feminine.Ribbons, bows, Garlands of roses and leaves drape the most quintessential examples of this design style.
Edwardian Ring in Platinum and Diamonds
Notice the heart shape motiff on the side of this ring . The ring is exquisite in detail and very delicate in appearance.Platinum became the metal of choice during the Edwardian era ,thanks to the advent of the oxyacetylene torch in 1900. Prior to this date jewelers did not have torches that could reach sufficient temperatures to work the metal.Platinum melts at approx.3300 F . Platinum properties being such that the most delicate models could be executed without compromising the stability of the item being produced . The density of platinum allowed for unheard of detail and long wear . The purity of the metals color combined with its’ durability provided the ideal setting medium for the jeweler.
Early 20th Century Platinum Diamond Ring
Notice the beaded border on the ring above. This millgraining is a technique that Edwardian jewelers often used .
One also finds the use of yellow gold in Edwardian jewelery as well.This bangle bracelet exemplifies the delicate and feminine nature of this era
Edwardian Bangle Bracelet with Sapphires
For more lovely examples of jewelery from this era check out our website at www.bcjewelers.com I could go on and on about the beautiful jewelery from this time period look for more on my next blog and happy hunting for your next antique or vintage piece.
I’m sure you have started thinking about doing some holiday shopping by now. To help you with your holiday shopping we have a few things to tell you about.
First, if you could use a little extra cash we are having a special Gold Buying Event on Sunday, December 6 from Noon to 5pm. Recycle your broken, or old jewelry or watches and get some quick cash to help with your holiday shopping. Gold prices are the highest they have ever been. We will be open for holiday shopping that day as well.
From now through Christmas Beauchamp Jewelers will be open every day of the week! We will be open Sunday December 6, 13, & 20 from Noon to 5pm for holiday shopping. If you can’t get in to see us during the week we’ve added one more day to help you out.
As always, we will write down a wish list of items you are interested in so you can give it to someone who may be looking for just the right gift for you, or we can keep it here in the store and you can let them know that the friendly staff at Beauchamp’s knows just what you want.
Don’t know where to hide that special item you purchased? We’re happy to keep your Beauchamp purchases in our vault until right before Christmas so you don’t have to worry about her finding that special gift.
The Edwardian Era is named after the British Monarch Edward the VII . (See Left ) Although his reign was quite short (1901-1910) he and his Queen, Alexandra were quite influencial.
The couple were married in 1863 but Edward did not assend to the throne until after his Mothers death in 1901. His Mother, Queen Victoria ruled England from1837 untill 1901.
Queen Victoria
Victoria spent much of her public life in mourning for her late husband . As Victorian propriety demanded she dressed accordingly. Ladies in mourning were restricted to wearing black , grey or shades of greyish purple (the color being tied into specific periods) The accompanying jewels worn were often in similar tones of blacks and purples. Jewelry was generally quite massive in appearance.
Victoria still held sway even toward the later part of her reign but as she aged , Edward and Alexandria undertook many of Queen Victorias Public duties. The couple was very visible in society and had a great effect on the fashion of the day.
Alexandra was charming , beautiful and stylish. Ladies strove to immitate her style . Notice the chocker or “dog collar” style necklace that she is wearing .(see image below) This look was created by her to disguise a small scar on her neck and the style became all the rage . The “dog collar ” style is still popular with designers today.
Alexandra
Edward and Alexandra were young and influencial during a period of great prosperity for the upper classes. It was a period of political stability a well as an era of exciting new technological discovery. Gas lighting was replaced by the invention of electrical lighting.
Colors became more subtle in the ladies wardrobe. Jewelers enhanced the dress of the day by creating lighter, airy designs and utilizing pastel gemstones such as aquamarine, Montana sapphires and seed pearls. Jewels did not require mass or intensity of color to have an effect under the new electric light . Diamonds twinkled under the new lights. Seed pearls were very popular as evidenced in the following .
Edwardian Seed Pearl Brooch
Notice the delicate quality to the work in this Edwardian seed pearl brooch.
Edwardian Chocker c.1910
Today it is difficult to imagine how an individuals could so inflence their times to such an extent as to have their name applied to an era . Just mention the Edwardian age and it conjures images of lively times, beautiful clothes and the exquisite ‘Garland style of Jewelery” we now define as Edwardian. Please look for my next blog on the Jewels of the Edwardian Era.
We recently celebrated our second year in our new Albuquerque location and 58 years since our founding by Mac and Ione Beauchamp in 1951. We want to take this opportunity to thank all of our valued customers. Thank you for your loyal patronage. Our annual anniversary party is one way we say Thank you. The party was a huge success, with our second show room decorated in an under the sea theme, there was good food, good fun, great friends, and of course, beautiful jewelry.
Topaz is the Birthstone for November and the 4th and 23rd wedding anniversary stone.
The Egyptians said that topaz was colored with the golden glow of the mighty sun god Ra. The Romans associated topaz with Jupiter, who also is the god of the sun. Legend says that it dispels all enchantment and helps to improve eyesight. The Greeks believed that it had the power to increase strength and make the wearer invisible. Topaz was also said to change color in the presence of poisoned food or drink and curative powers waxed and waned with the phases of the moon. It was said to cure insomnia, asthma and hemorrhages. The name comes from the same island that Peridot originally came from – Topazios or Zabarad in the Red Sea. In Sanskrit, the word topas or tapax means fire. In medieval times nobility and ruling classes were given engraved topaz as a token of loyalty and friendship.
The name for Imperial Topaz originated in nineteenth century Russian because the Ural Mountains were the leading source. Ownership of the gem was restricted to the royal family.
Today most people think of blue when they think of topaz and yellow topaz is often mistaken for the common citrine or smoky quartz.
Topaz is the state gemstone of Texas and Utah.
Source
The Ouro Preto area of Brazil is the major commercial source of imperial and red topaz. The Ghundao Hill area of Pakistan produces a naturally pink to red topaz sometimes called “cyclamen pink”. Brazil and Sri Lanka are the most significant sources of treatable colorless topaz. Topaz comes from Australia, Madagascar, Mexico, Myanmar, Namibia, Nigeria and the USA as well. The primary source of gem-quality topaz are pegmatites. Because it grows in an orthorhombic crystal structure (crystals are typically elongated with strong parallel grooves or striations, parallel to their length) it has weaker bonds between the atoms in one direction which causes cleavage. A sharp blow or extreme pressure or sharp temperature changes might cause it to split along the cleavage plane.
Properties
Toughness – poor due to cleavage
Stability
Reaction to Heat – might cause fading.
Reaction to Light – might cause fading.
Reaction to Chemicals – not resistant to sulphuric acid.
Care during polishing and setting because of danger of cleavage
Rarities include Red, Pink and Imperial or Precious Topaz
Most popular cuts are emerald or step cut, scissor cut, cabochon and brilliant cut particularly for colorless Topaz.
Confused with Apatite, aquamarine, brazilianite, chrysoberyl, citrine, danburite, diamond, fluorite, kunzite, orthoclase, phenakite, ruby, sapphire, spinel, tourmaline, zircon and precious beryl. Blue synethetic topaz is known. Yellow heat-treated amethyst are falsely called “gold topaz” or “Madeira topaz” so real topaz is sometimes called precious topaz to distinguish them.
Enhancements –
Blue Topaz – depending on type of treatment and starting material, it comes in many shades of blue.
London Blue
Swiss Blue
Super blue
Maxi Blue
Sky Blue
Blue starts usually as colorless and treated with gamma rays or high-energy electron radiation. This is permanent. The stones must be quarantined from three months to a year to allow radiation to dissipate.
Heat treatment is usually used on yellow to create pink and red hues. This is also permanent.
Surface Diffusion – stones are heated in cobalt-rich powder which produces color about 0.5mm deep at the surface.
Coating – coating colorless topaz with microscopic layer of metallic oxide compound by heating the stone in a vacuum-sealed container with metal oxides to form a vapor coating. This causes an optical effect of visible spectral hues. The coating is not durable but can resist daily wear but abrasive cleaners and buffing wheels remove it. It is safe in ultrasonic, alcohol and mild soap.
Most people want the biggest bang for their buck, so carat weight seems to be the most important. A carat in the gem world is a magic number because it is a whole unit. Carat is derived from the carob seed. Before modern times, diamonds were measured for weight by comparing them to the carob seed which is very uniform in size and weight. So carob became carat to weigh gemstones. There are one hundred points to a carat. Think of it like pennies to a dollar. A gem that weighs 0.25 carat is 25/ 100ths of a carat or a quarter carat, a gem that weighs 0.50 carat is 50/ 100ths of a carat or a half carat, a gem that weighs 0.75 carat is 75/ 100ths of a carat or a three quarter carat, and so on and so forth. A larger diamond is always rarer and than a smaller diamond. The largest rough diamond ever discovered is the Cullinan Diamond. It was discovered in 1905 at the Premier Mine in South Africa. It was cut into nine large diamonds and about one hundred smaller diamonds. The largest of the nine diamonds is the First Star of Africa also known as the Cullinan I. It is a pear shape and weighs 530.2 carats. It is set in the Scepter in the British Crown Jewels. September 24, 2009, a 507 carat rough diamond was discovered at the Cullinan Mine in South Africa.
Two smaller diamonds don’t equal one larger diamond. If you have two 0.50 carat diamonds they will not equal the value of one 1.00 carat diamond if all the other characteristics of the diamonds are the same. For example, as of the publishing date of this article, a 0.50 carat, round brilliant cut diamond, G color and VS2 will cost approximately $3,200.00 (retail) and the same quality 1.00 carat, round brilliant cut diamond, will cost approximately $12,000.00 (retail).
Our Fall Jewelry Preview event was a great success! All who attended had a great time. One of the highlights was having Debbie Brooks, handbag designer, in the store to showcase and sign her work. In celebration of Albuquerque’s International Balloon Fiesta she created a collection of limited edition bags featuring the Sandia Mountains flanked by beautiful hot air balloons.
If you missed our fall preview, you will definitely want to stop by for our Anniversary Party on November 12th, 2009.
I just adore bracelets much as the ladies did in the 1800’s. It was not uncommon for a lady to wear multiple bracelets on each arm. The Victorian metal of choice was gold. Slide style bracelets were popular and often worn in pairs.
Victorian Slide Bracelet
Slide Bracelets were adjustable so as to accommodate most any size wrist. One would slip the section of chain over the wrist and adjust it by sliding the tasseled end away from the wrist.
Mid 19th century bracelets tend to have a bold look. The bold look of the jewels balanced the large voluminous skirts that were in fashion. Although Victorian jewelery looks bold it is not heavy. It has a light weight feel .Gold was rare. Jewelers utilized a variety of methods to work the thin sheets of this precious metal so as the finished jewels would have an important look. Although gold was discovered in California in 1849 it was not untill1874 that it was discovered in the Black Hills and than as late as 1898 in Alaska.
Later Victorian bracelets begin to take on a lighter more delicate look. The metal is pierced and visually light. Styles change as does jewelery design to enhance the newest fashions.
Antique Pierced sapphire and Diamond Bangle
An era was ending and a new one was beginning.
Turn of the century bracelet
Victorian Woven Mesh Bracelet Victorian bracelets from the 1800s are great fun to collect and wear. You do not often see exact copies of items unless they were originally made to be worn as pairs.
If you like to wear unique and usual jewelery, Victorian bracelets are for you! Happy collecting !
Arabic legend says opal fall from the heavens in flashes of lightening. The Greeks believed opals gave their owners the gift of prophecy and guarded them from disease. The Romans thought opal symbolized love and hope. The Romans gave its name – opalus – that meant precious stone. Europeans have long considered the gem a symbol of hope, purity, and truth. Australian aborigines have a legend that the creator came down to Earth on a rainbow to bring the message of peace. At the spot his foot touched the ground, the stones became alive and sparkling in all the colors of the rainbow. The superstition that it is unlucky for anyone born in any month other than October to wear an opal came from the novel “Anne of Geierstein” by Sir Walter Scott written in the 1800’s. Opal has actually been considered to be the luckiest and most magical of all gems because it can show all colors. It was even thought to have the power to preserve life and be color of blond hair. For ages, people have believed in the healing power of opal and it is reported to cure depression and help its wearer find the true and real love. They are believed to enhance the positive characteristic of people born under the zodiac sign of Cancer. Black opal is recommended for those born under Scorpio and Boulder Opal is a lucky stone for Aries. Opals became prevalent in jewelry during the Art Deco period.
It is thought that opal formed 15 to 30 million years ago with one exception in Australia where at Mintabie it is thought to have formed about 400 million years ago. It is formed in desert areas that have strong seasonal rainfall and rocks rich in silica. The water seeping through the rock carries silica that is evaporated out in pockets of rock. However opal still contains a significant amount of water usually about 3 to 10% and can be as high as 20%.
In 1849 the first opal blocks were accidentally found on the Australian cattle station of Tarravilla. Prospecting started in 1890 at White Cliff in Australia. Other famous opal areas of Australia are Lighting Ridge, Andamooka and Coober Peddy (aborigine word for “white man in hole”). The largest opal found is 6,843 kilogram known as the Andamooka Desert Flame.
Australia produces black and white opal. Brazil produces white opal. Mexico produces Fire Opal. Peru produces Peruvian opal. Ethiopia and Malawi produces white opal.
Properties
Hardness: 5.5 – 6.5
Toughness – very poor to fair.
Reaction to Heat – High heat or sudden temperature change can cause fracturing.
Reaction to Light – Stable but heat from intense light can cause fracturing (known as crazing)
Reaction to Chemicals – Attacked by hydrofluoric acid and caustic alkalis
Loss of moisture and crazing can result from storage in airtight containers such as safe deposit boxes
Clarity – Fractures, pits, surface blemishes, matrix, crazing (a fine network of cracks that resembles spider’s web).
Most popular cut is cabochon. The Mexican opal is often faceted as well.
Confused with Ammolite, mother-of-pearl, labradorite, moonstone. Imitations include opal doublet or triplets and synthetic opal (Gilson) and simulated opal made of glass (Slocum) and a Japanese plastic opal.
Treatments/Enhancements –
Impregnation with oil, wax, or plastic – improves play-of-color and prevents or disguises fracturing. Black plastic creates appearance of black opal – stability is fair to poor for oil or wax and excellent for plastic.
Sugar treatment – soaking in dye, silver nitrate or sugar and acid – creates or improves play-of-color and simulates appearance of black opal. – stability is poor to good
Smoke impregnation – creates or improves play-of-color and simulates appearance of black opal – stability is fair to poor because treatment is shallow and abrades or chips away easily.
Fire Opal Earrings
Types of Opals
White Opal – translucent to semi-translucent with play-of-color against a white or gray bodycolor.
Black Opal – translucent to opaque with play-of-color against a black or other dark bodycolor
Fire Opal – transparent to translucent with brown, yellow, orange or red bodycolor. This material often doesn’t have play-of-color is also known as “Mexican opal”, “Gold opal”, or “Sun opal”.
Boulder Opal – Opal with dark base surface with play-of-color and occurs as pebble rock where the opal fills hollows.
Harlequin Opal – transparent to translucent opal with effective segment like color patterns.
Jelly Opal (Water Opal) – bluish-gray opal with little play-of-color.
Crystal Opal – a few red reflexes on colorless, vitreous surface.
Girasol – almost colorless, transparent opal with bluish luster
Peruvian Opal – a blue-green mostly opaque with very little play of color opal found in Peru.
Assembled Opal – precious opal layers and other material cemented together to improve durability and appearance.
Custom Boulder Opal Pendant
Play-of-Color
Play-of-color is caused by sub-microscopic spheres stacked in a grid-like pattern (like layers of ping-pong balls). This structure breaks up light into spectral colors. The colors depend on the size of the spheres. 0.1 micron in diameter produces violet. 0.2 micron in size produces red. In between sizes produce intermediate hues.
Pinfire or pinpoint – small, close-set patches of color.
Harlequin or mosaic – broad, angular, close-set patches of color.
Flame – sweeping reddish bands or streaks that shoot across the stone
Beauchamp Jewelers cordially invites you to an evening preview of original designer handbags by artist Debbie Brooks. Debbie will be in our store to autograph her works of art and to unveil a new limited edition handbag inspired by Albuquerque’s annual Balloon Fiesta. We will also be featuring our new fall collections from designers Cherie Dori and Roberto Coin, including Roberto’s spectacular, CapriPlus designs. Come join the fun!
Friday, October 9 6 to 9 PM
Saturday, October 10 9:30am to 4pm
Beauchamp Jewelers is located in Albuquerque, NM near the ABQ Uptown, Winrock & Coronado shopping centers. Here at Beauchamp Jewelers' Blog you can find out what's new at our store as well as educate yourself on topics related to jewelry and watches.
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7017 Menaul Blvd NE
Albuquerque, NM 87110
505 881 8939
Edwardian Era is named after the British Monarch Edward the VII . (See Left ) Although his reign was quite short (1901-1910) he and his Queen, Alexandra were quite influencial.
