Retro was originally a specific art movement dating from the 1940s to the 1950s. ‘Retro’ was a genre of pop art developed to satisfy a need for bold and eye-catching designs that would be easy to reproduce.

Retro style is anything that is vintage of at least fifteen or twenty years, but that is mainly employed when talking about clothing. But, most commonly “retro” is simply used to describe anything, objects or attitudes of the recent past that no longer seem “modern”.

The term “Retro” as applied to jewellery is credited to François Curiel, the head of the jewellery department for Christie’s Auction House in New York in the early 1970’s. Retro Art marks the 1940s to 1950s – the period of massive, voluminous, sculptural, sumptuous pieces of jewellery; signet rings, tank rings and their geometrical forms were very popular.

During the Second World War, jewellers suffered from a low quantity of gemstones. Importing coloured gemstones was partially prohibited, therefore many jewellers used synthetic ones for the most part, and diamonds would be second-hand diamonds that would have been removed from existing pieces of jewellery.

Retro jewellery originated in France. Van Cleef & Arpels were the first to exhibit any Retro jewellery designs; creating a collection that was exhibited at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York. Moreover, when World War II broke out, these exact pieces of jewellery were retained in New York thus influencing contemporary American jewellery designers for the next 5-10 years.

Retro jewellery appeared during a really difficult time of war, the main idea being to distract individuals from the tough reality of everyday life. Hollywood, the movies universe and a fantasy life were also hugely influential and jewellery became oversized, bold, colourful, and full of life in those sad times! The jewellery was glamorous and eye-catching.

In addition to all the synthetic stones that were used, a variety of semi-precious stones that were previously not quite as fashionable were now employed. Very vibrant examples would be: amethysts, citrine and aquamarines, swiftly becoming the “It Thing”. Really bold cuts were extremely popular too: emerald cuts, baguette cuts.

Interestingly this movement brought a way to escape the dark reality of the 1940’s. The harder times were becoming, the more “enchanted and lively” jewellery became. After the bombing of Pearl Harbour in 1941, the United States entered World War II and pieces of American Retro jewellery of this time were whimsical and enchanting: birds, flowers, dancers, ballerinas, hearts and bows were recurrent designs of the period.