Jewelry design involves the creation of wearable adornment
There is a large market for jewelry in which not only small workshops and individuals participate, but also design studios with their own distribution channels, specialized jewelry companies, and fashion, perfume, or accessory firms that successfully market jewelry under their labels. Some jewelry makers strive to be artists, others consider themselves craftsmen, and yet others identify as designers.
Even among the latter category there are usually further distinctions made between those who produce small series (even limited and/or signed editions) and those who design for mass production by companies. In defining jewelry design, it is useful to review the etymology of the word “jewelry.”
The German word for jewelry, Schmuck, is related to the English verb “to smuggle.” This root indicates that the definition of the term “jewelry” may have evolved gradually over time, from something to be guarded as treasure to an exhibition piece intended to lend its wearer status and poise.
The English word is of course tied closely to “jewels” (very much in the spirit of Marilyn Monroe’s song “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend”) though the way we understand jewelry today is by no means limited to the use of jewels or even precious metals, but includes nearly every conceivable material including plastics, paper, rubber bands, and cardboard. The increasingly open-ended definition of the product has enabled the design to develop new standards of value for jewelry.
From the Middle Ages until the Art Nouveau era of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, jewelry’s central value was identified almost exclusively by the costliness of its materials. Today, composition, originality, innovation, and distinctiveness are increasingly important in the determining value.
This shift has at times led to conflicts between traditional jewelry makers and their markets. A consideration of jewelry’s significance also opens up divergent perspectives. Jewelry can be valued quite simply as a financial investment (especially when jewels, gold, silver, and platinum are used), a playful form of dressing up, or a symbolic artifact reinforcing aspect and respect. This latter application is striking in monarchic, political, and military contexts in particular, with their use of crowns, scepters, and medals as insignia of power and influence. These symbolic applications are evident within the context of everyday use, as well.
As with clothing, jewelry may represent its wearer as rich, fashionable, and striking; lend poise and form to the body; create equilibrium or deliberate asymmetry. At the same time, jewelry can serve to draw attention to whatever one wants to emphasize: the ears, neck, dØcolletage, wrists, and in rare cases feet and toes (with the increased popularity of piercing extending the spectrum of possibilities even further).