Antique jewelry glossary

Welcome to our extensive antique jewelry glossary with around 1,500 jewelry related entries.If you feel you are missing an explanation, feel free to let us know and we will add it.

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Classical jewelry

Articles of jewelry made in Greece during the Classical period, from the Age of Pericles, c. 475 BC, to 323 BC, when, after the conquests by Alexander the Great, foreign influences changed the character of Greek styles and techniques.

Gold was scarce, and the jewelry emphasized workmanship of the metal, with minor use of enamelling, granulation or gemstones. The main articles were earrings (especially rosettes from which pendants were suspended), necklaces with pendants and beads, finger rings (some with seals), wreathes, and bracelets (spirals and penannular hoops with ornate finials).

Classical style

The style of shaping and decorating articles during the entire period of Greek and Roman civilization, but sometimes restricted to the period of highest Greek culture, c. 475-323 BC (sometimes called the 'Hellenic style').

From: An Illustrated Dictionary of Jewelry, autor: Harold Newman, publishers: Thames and Hudson