Jewellery Making
Costume jewellery 1800 to now
A beginner-level group course examining costume jewellery’s history, design, manufacture and identification through samples, images and discussion.
Choose a date before booking
Upcoming classes
1 class
About this course
The course traces costume jewellery’s development from the nineteenth century through the twentieth century, placing changes in design and production within wider social history. Topics include women’s spending power, department stores, wartime material restrictions and the work of designers including Chanel, Miriam Haskell and Trifari. Teaching combines jewellery samples for inspection, PowerPoint images, group discussion, a quiz and handouts. Participants examine construction methods, designer signatures, maker’s marks, vintage pricing and differences in quality, using a loupe to inspect pieces.
What you'll learn
- Explain key stages in the development and production of costume jewellery.
- Identify materials and construction methods used in costume jewellery.
- Recognise leading twentieth-century designers and their characteristic marks.
- Use a loupe to inspect jewellery and identify maker’s marks.
- Assess differences in the quality of costume jewellery.
Is this course right for you?
The course is explicitly suitable for complete beginners, as well as jewellery students, designers and makers seeking historical and contextual knowledge. It is taught in a group through discussion, a quiz and inspection of examples, with no work required outside class.
- Suitable for learners with no previous jewellery experience.
- Relevant to jewellery students, designers and makers developing contextual knowledge.
- Participation involves group discussion and examining jewellery examples.
Before you go
- Jewellery samples are provided for inspection.
- Students may bring jewellery pieces for identification.