Estate Jewelry

For most people, estate jewelry and antique jewelry have one thing in common- they are both old. However, estate jewelry does not consist of jewelry from the Victorian, Edwardian, and Art Deco periods because the term "estate jewelry" refers to all jewelry made after 1950.

During World War I and II, platinum was taken off the market for jewelry and reserved for military armaments. Hence, after the Edwardian period up through the Art Deco periods, platinum jewelry is essentially absent. Consequently, after platinum was made available once again to the jewelry industry, the game of the day was platinum. The industry saw a surge of platinum jewelry designs that the industry had been starving for.

In contrast to earlier gemstone cuts in the first half of the century (rose, old-mine cuts), estate jewelry incorporates the modern cut that we use today. A quick and easy way of distinguishing old cuts from modern brilliants is to look at the cutlet at the base of the diamond. Older cutlets will appear flat while more modern cutlets come to a point.