Jewelry and bijouterie in the Gothic style

Styles in art are formed over a long time and smoothly pass one into another, being in continuous development. Sometimes there are several styles at the same time. But as the creator of the Paris Opera building, Charles Garnier, said, “... each era has its own beauty.”

Some styles, having outlived their time many decades and even centuries ago, come back again and again, repeating something, and changing something in one form or another. In jewelry, talented designers and craftsmen always feel the pulse of their time. Each style is based on its own philosophy of life.

For example, the Gothic style in jewelry is based on a philosophical and religious heritage. In the modern world, the Gothic style draws inspiration for the most part from the dark side of life associated with death - skulls and dark attributes of vampirism.

True Gothic is more sophisticated - its attributes are swords, shields, crosses, crowns, heraldic and stained glass elements. The elements of the decoration also included heavy chains with large pendants, belt buckles, rings, agraphs ... The rings were decorated with large precious stones, as well as with religious themes, in the latter case, jewelry with enamel was especially revered.

If today we pay attention to the magical properties of the stone insofar as, in the Gothic style, the symbolism of stones was of great importance. Pendants and agraphs of the Gothic style were also decorated with large gems and enamels. Loved in the Gothic and pearls. The contrast of white pearls with black lace always looked luxurious.

Revived Gothic at the end of the twentieth century, it is identified with skulls, bats, scarab beetles, spiders and vampires. By the way, people started talking about vampires and other attributes of the other world back in the Victorian era, when the Irish writer Bram Stoker created the vampire.

Mixing medieval Gothic culture and modern trends, the designers have created, one might say, a new style with a rich and varied palette of jewelry art.

White gold, silver and platinum are especially preferred in modern Gothic. Precious white metals and diamond placer create a contrast to the gloom and weight of stones, among which the most common are rubies and emeralds.

Alluring luxury is combined with gloomy skulls framed by large diamonds to create a sense of mysticism and mystery. As in medieval jewelry, the stones and the piece of jewelry itself are often made defiant and massive.

Christian Dior Jewelry Line Creative Director Victoire de Castellane presented gothic jewelry in which she allowed a certain amount of boldness in expressing her understanding of this style. The jewelry contains skulls, atypical for the French brand, surrounded by large precious stones, crosses covered with diamonds, fasteners of parts of many products resembling spider legs, rings, necklaces, brooches, pendants decorated with stones in the form of skulls.

Victoire de Castellane is not afraid of experiments, the somewhat frightening and attractive luxury of her Gothic collection will not leave anyone indifferent.

A luxurious white gold ring with diamonds and blood red rubies, an amazing feminine necklace with a scattering of diamonds, rubies and dark blue sapphires, a white gold pendant and rubies that resemble blood drops - everything attracts the eye with grace and luxury. And although the gothic style of jewelry requires a certain outfit, many ensembles from the Victoire de Castellane collection are relevant for any outfit and situation.

The French jeweler Lydia Courtel occupies a special place in gothic jewelry. Scientist, gemologist, collector and traveler, Lydia Courtel began creating her own jewelry collections more than ten years ago.

Her small boutique is located not far from Place Vendôme, on rue Saint-Honore, where you can meet not only collectors, but also lovers of antique jewelry from all over the world, and among them celebrities ...

Styles from different eras are intertwined in her own collections. Flora, fauna, mysticism, symbolism, archeology - everything is combined brightly, nobly and with dignity.

Many of Lydia Courtel's pieces are made in the Gothic style. Her daggers, crosses and skulls made of gold, diamonds and sapphires do not make a dark and frightening impression. Lydia selects stones for her jewelry herself, traveling to different countries. Earrings, rings, bracelets are created with unique materials - for example, rhodium-plated gold.

The Spanish jewelry company Magerit creates original jewelry using the technique of miniature sculpture. Design ideas and high craftsmanship embody the mysterious and legendary Notre Dame Cathedral with its evil and gloomy gargoyles and stained glass windows in the decoration.

Gargoyles are monsters that adorn medieval temples, in Christian beliefs they are associated exclusively with evil forces. Gargoyles are the images of the forces of chaos, it was believed that they were tamed by the highest spirituality, the focus of which is the temple.

Most of the jewelry in the Gothic style requires an appropriate style of clothing, hairstyle, makeup and even nail color. There are jewelry among them that can allow a freer choice, so when buying such jewelry, you should think over your whole image in advance, and in what situations you will wear them.

The Gothic style of jewelry, using medieval artistic traditions, will always be popular, because the craving for mystery is ineradicable in a person.