The origins of bespoke jewellery

Since prehistoric times, people have adorned themselves with uniquely individual jewellery. But bespoke jewellery as we now understand it really stems from the nineteenth century. This period witnessed the rise of the European ‘Grands Joailliers’, notably Cartier, Boucheron and Van Cleef and Arpels. On the other side of the Atlantic, their success was matched by now-legendary brands like Tiffany and Harry Winston.These companies became synonymous with luxury, and with the idea that they could make for their clients more or less any piece of jewellery that they might want.

Custom made jewellery became fashionable amongst the wealthy, and some stunning commissions were the result. In 1905, Tiffany created a ‘peacock necklace’, now in the Charles Hosmer Museum of American Art. Its design relied on cabochon-cut gemstones and polychrome enamelling, and resembled and Indian ‘dauni’ or headpiece. In 1901, Queen Alexandra ordered Pierre Cartier to remove various Indian gems from the royal collection in London, and to use them to create a bespoke necklace. The finished piece used ninety-four cabochon emeralds, seventy-one pearls and twelve cabochon rubies. Queen Alexandra was said to be delighted with her new piece of bespoke jewellery. Three years later, she commissioned Cartier to make another piece, this time a ‘collier resille’, or hair net. It contained over a thousand stones, weighing a total of more than one hundred and forty carats, all of them taken from dismantled Indian necklaces.