1940s Jewellery

Some features of new 1940s jewellery were overflows from the Art Deco period. Angular gemstone cuts, strong lines, and repeating geometric designs were popular. These Art Deco designs were combined with yellow gold to create distinct 'cocktail' jewellery.

1940s Earrings

In the 1940s, bigger and bolder earring designs, such as clusters, studs, hoops, and large round buttons, became popular in both costume and fine jewellery. Luxury pieces often featured large, brightly coloured gemstones like aquamarines and citrines, with smaller gemstones used as accents. Since pierced ears weren't widely popular until the 1950s, many earrings were clip-ons or screw-backs. Matching sets with brooches or necklaces were common, and jewellery overall was oversized and playful, contrasting with the more masculine fashion of the era, influenced by women working during the war.

1940s Brooches

Brooches of the 1940s were heavily inspired by nature, often resembling animals. Following the enormous success of the Disney company's first ever feature length animation, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, in 1937, highly stylised animal brooches were extremely popular.

In the fine jewellery world, these brooches featured a plethora of precious gemstones. Costume animal jewellery that was more widely affordable often used metal with colourful enamel to illustrate animals like butterflies, birds, dogs, and cats.

The spray brooch also found huge popularity in the 1940s. These brooches also conformed to the 1940s style of being oversized. They take on a range of different shapes, but are mostly naturalistic. The geometric, rigid lines of the Art Deco period were much less popular by the end of the 1940s. Instead, floral shapes were far more commonplace.

1940s Engagement Rings

The 1940s saw the resurgence of yellow gold as the most widely-used jewellery metal. This warm metal was very popular, being starkly different from the cool-toned metals that had previously been popular. Yellow and rose gold engagement rings were all the rage in this decade as well as the 1950s and '60s that followed. Sometimes, stronger metals like platinum or palladium were used just for the settings.

Although the Art Deco jewellery that had been popular before featured a lot of angular cuts for gemstones, the back half of the 1940s saw more rounded cuts coming back. The 'classic' engagement ring that we imagine as a yellow gold ring with a round cut diamond first found its popularity in the 1940s. The most commonly-used setting style for these engagement rings is the traditional four prongs.

Another engagement ring style that took off in the 1940s was the trilogy ring. Earlier examples of trilogy rings were usually reserved for special occasions like anniversaries – typically later in life than the engagement. Those who were prospering after the war, however, were in a position to buy more luxurious engagement rings. The three diamonds of a trilogy ring have been said to resemble a couple's past, present and future. Examples of the trilogy ring from the 1940s often use platinum as a setting metal, ensuring all of the gemstones are securely held.