Hot Summer Color Palette

Candy Squares Bracelet

The decade of the 1960's, thought to be the anti-establishment, anti-fashion decade, ironically, brought fresh direction to the fashion industry. Simply put, everything that had been "in" was now "out" and vice versa. So, right along with Twiggy and Mary Quant, there was huge interest in bright color, beads and fringe. Our millefiori candy glass and crystal designs recreate the mood.

The Sweet Romance Candy Glass collection comes alive with a kaleidoscope of vibrantly colored handmade millefiori glass, crystals and beads! Millefiori means ‘thousand flowers.’ Entirely handmade in the murano style, bundles of tiny glass filament rods are sliced, then fired to meld their brilliant colors and floral patterns. No two pieces are ever identical. The intense, heady primary colors of the glass fibers fused as beads are complemented by the softer sparks of the machine cut crystal beads. A brilliantly colorful splash of 1960s color, the glass beads and crystal blaze in hues of scarlet, aqua, orange, peridot, citrine, fuchsia, tanzanite, coral, pale sapphire and tangerine. Heavy 14K gold plate chain provides a warm, rich counterpoint for this riot of color.

Set of 2 Candy Glass Necklaces

The latest, hottest look is long and layered chains. From an engraved oval chain, dangles clusters of hand-made millefiori glass beads and disks, making this necklace fun and captivating. Wear your favorite Candy Glass summer necklace, long or doubled or layered with other Sweet Romance candy glass necklace ropes. Marvelous against basic black. Totally "urban chic."

Roaring Twenties: They're Flappers!

Roaring Twenties: They're Flappers! by sweet-romance featuring deco jewelry

Deco jewelry
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Deco jewelry
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Vintage art deco jewelry
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1920s Wedding

1920s Wedding by sweet-romance featuring vintage jewelry

Vintage jewelry
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Vintage costume jewelry
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Vintage costume jewelry
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Gatsby Deco Gold

Gatsby Deco Gold by sweet-romance featuring costume jewelry

Costume jewelry
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Sweet Romance™ Art Deco Torch Earrings
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Great Gatsby - Deco Daisy

Great Gatsby - Deco Daisy by sweet-romance featuring retro jewelry

Retro jewelry
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Retro jewelry
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Retro jewelry
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Great Gatsby Jewelry Collection

At the end of the second decade of the 20th century, jewelry styles became more works of art than a repetition of historic revival styles that had dominated Victorian tastes. Simpler lines foreshadowed the oncoming geometry of the deco era. The expression of speed in graduated linear forms is a metaphor for the machines, vehicles and buildings of the new industrial age

The extravagance of jewelry of the Roaring '20s was seen in diamonds and costume pieces alike and diamond jewelry was widely translated into fashion jewels. It was the 1920s designs of Cartier that firmly established Art Deco stylism in jewelry. Abbreviated lines, symmetry, the combination of circular and linear elements - these are the hallmarks of that style. Sleeveless dresses were a shocking new style of the 'flappers,' stylish young women of the 1920s. Bared arms called for bracelets that sparkled in the low light of speakeasies and nightclubs. Their Art Deco earrings swung seductively beneath the brim of a cloche hat.

Movie theaters of the 1930s were palaces of ornate architecture with fabulous ornamental facades and dazzling neon marquees. By the late 1930s, women were so enthralled with the new fashion of rhinestone jewelry, they often bought dresses to accessorize their "stones." Costume jewelry mfgs understood that passion and created designs in rhinestones that were price prohibitive in diamonds. Recovery after the Depression included the purchase of spirit-lifting "imitation" jewels to snazzy up "last year's" wardrobe. Rhinestone production boomed in pre-WWII Bohemian, with stones cut in every shape gemstones were made.

Sweet Romance Jewelry's Art Deco pieces are historically correct and provide 'movement' and definition. Each design is pure deco, reminiscent of the fanciful possessions of 1920s Berlin or New York flappers. A collection of treasures like this is a rarity to find, even at good antique shows.

Art Deco Style

1920s Speakeasy Necklace

Ever since I became aware of style and design, I’ve loved the Art Deco esthetic.  Through your letters and emails, I know that my interest is a shared one. There are several reasons for this.

 

First, many of us were nurtured by a woman of the 1920s—our mothers, aunts and grandmothers. Their personalities were shaped by that particularly restless, defiant and ultimately liberating time for women. With empowerment of the right to vote and employment, women insisted on liberating fashion changes also. The confines of the corset were abandoned for loose-fitting, shorter dresses. Women bobbed their long hair, painted their lips and shopped using credit terms. The spirit that was kindled in the Roaring ‘20s enabled them to persevere through the Depression and WWII. They instilled in us their tenacity, self-reliance, creativity and thrift.

 

The other reason we like deco design is because our lives have been filled with its influence. Architecture, neon signs, chrome toasters and mother’s rose gold watch have the geometric lines born of the Machine Age.

  

Apparel and jewelry fashion joined in sync with the new design philosophy of angles and curves heralded at the Paris International Exposition des Arts Decoratifs in 1925.  Fashion jewelry making accelerated. There was high demand for crystal bracelets to clasp bare arms, bead necklaces to drape the new “flat” silhouette and earrings to seductively swing beneath the brim of a cloche hat. The Machine Age obliged with automated chain linking devices and mass produced rhinestones. The elongated rectangular ‘baguette’ cut was developed. Pave’ set diamonds and rhinestones ruled the day.

  

There were different flavors within the Deco style. Exotic influences were seen in oriental motifs, molded glass, enameling and rhinestone encrusted filigrees and celluloid. Jewelry, purses and dresser top items looked like opulent luxuries. Then there was the streamline, geometric form seen in motifs such as arrows, shooting stars, designs which conveyed movement. Old themes such as fruit and flowers were expressed in geometric forms. Tut’s tomb was discovered in 1922, a revelation of artifacts which captivated the world. Molded glass ornaments of Egyptian themes were produced for use in jewelry.

 

 It is my hope that you find great pleasure in my designs of the Deco era. 

Magic in a Bottle

Magic in a Bottle by sweet-romance featuring necklaces

Necklace
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Earrings
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Sweet Romance™ Glass Deco Perfume Bottle
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