Antique and Vintage Jewellery Lecture:

Antique and vintage jewellery has long been more than just a decorative accessory; it has served as a symbol of status, identity, and personal history. Often created for special occasions or significant moments, it reflects the wearer's affiliations, beliefs, and life events.

Jewellery for Special Occasions:
Jewellery has often been created to commemorate significant events or milestones. This includes pieces marking grand occasions such as coronations, seasonal celebrations like solstices and harvest festivals, the end of wars, or celestial phenomena such as solar eclipses and Halley’s Comet. These pieces act as wearable memories, preserving a moment in time or a meaningful event in the wearer’s life.

Jewellery as a Symbol of Affiliations and Beliefs:
Jewellery can represent membership in certain groups or societies, such as the Freemasons, or demonstrate allegiance to a specific country or region. It serves as a subtle yet powerful means of expressing one’s identity and affiliations without words.

Regional and Folk Jewellery:
Jewellery of regional or folk origin often reflects the wearer’s cultural or geographical background. It can indicate aspects such as faith, social standing, and even marital status—whether someone is unmarried, engaged, married, or widowed. Examples include traditional Irish Claddagh rings, Dutch provincial jewellery, Scandinavian bunad brooches, and Eastern European filigree work. The designs and materials used in these pieces are deeply rooted in local customs and traditions.

Mourning Jewellery:
Mourning jewellery holds a distinctive place in antique collections. It was worn to mark different stages of grief, with specific designs corresponding to various mourning periods, such as the first month or year. The style and materials used—such as pale, unpolished black for early mourning and glossy, polished black for later stages—varied depending on both the mourning period and the wearer’s financial means. Common materials included jet, vulcanite, and onyx, while some pieces incorporated woven hair or enamelled inscriptions to honour the deceased.

These different forms of jewellery provide a glimpse into the past, revealing aspects of the wearer’s personal story, societal role, and the traditions of their time. More than mere adornments, they are historical artefacts that offer profound insight into the social and cultural contexts in which they were created and worn.