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An example of Victorian mourning jewelry.

Methods and Production

The art of jewelry making during the Victorian Era was a trade that was taken up by both men and women though it was a predominantly male trade. Initially, the women jewelry makers of Britain took up jewelry making as a hobby and were only called on to do things such as polishing and buffering.The designing of jewelry was taken up by the females while the men were in charge of the more skilled based work such as metal crafting and enameling.

During the Arts and Crafts movement of the 1850’s, people wanted handmade jewelry made out of cheaper materials such as enamels and semiprecious stones as well as silver, which was a cheaper alternative to gold and other gemstones. This work required a host of different people working together to complete such as silversmiths, stonecutters, and jewelers. The followers of the Arts and Crafts movement cared less for the technique used to make the jewelry, but instead searched for the jewelry with interesting and good designs.

In Victorian America, the idea of using jewelry was brought over by European settlers in forms such as sentimental, mourning, and fashion jewelry. Much like in Britain, jewelry making was predominantly male with only a few women working on the jewelry making process. Jewelry was eventually mass produced due to the addition of steam- powered machinery such as power presses, automatic drops, wire-bending, button, watch, and locket case-making machines, hydraulic-rocking and stamp presses.