This brooch, designed by artist Carol Summers, is a three-dimensional representation of the big, bold wood-cut prints for which he was famous. Summers, who passed away on October 27th, 2016, trained at Bard College and the Art Students League in New York City, where he studied painting and printmaking. This brooch is unique in that...

Lea Stein’s laminated celluloid jewelry designs joyously celebrate the materiality of plastic. Fusing together thin sheets of brightly colored acetate to create elaborately layered designs—seen here in this bracelet from 1970—Stein and her husband, Ferdinand Steinberger, developed this process in the late 1960s. Steinberger was a chemist who invented this new chemical process, which allowed...

Talk by Amy Peterson, cofounder and CEO, and Patricia Caldwell, production manager, of the Detroit-based jewelry design studio Rebel Nell. Conversation to follow with Cynthia E. Smith, Curator of Socially Responsible Design and curator of the exhibition By the People: Designing a Better America.

Amy Peterson, a Detroit lawyer, envisioned Rebel Nell—an enterprise that creates unique jewelry from scrap pieces of graffiti—after moving next to one of Detroit’s shelters. While walking her dog, she began talking to women she met, and after listening to their stories and challenges, Peterson started a social enterprise with a vision to help women...

Ever wonder what your jewelry does when you aren’t wearing it? This brooch by the British art jeweler and goldsmith Kevin Coates demonstrates Coates grappling with this question. When Coates creates a piece of jewelry he often also designs an elaborate and beautiful housing for it to live in when not being worn, allowing the...

Founded in 1837, Tiffany & Co. by the late 19th century had become one of the leading manufacturers and retailers in America of fine jewelry and luxury items.  This small catalog lists items on display from Tiffany & Co.  in the Manufacturers and Liberal Arts Building at the Chicago’s World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893.  The...

Collegiate-gothic wood panels, a matching china cabinet stocked with warmly tinted salmon and blue plates, a wallpaper frieze evoking an endlessly rolling copse… A pleasing air of big-house formality and anticipated social gaiety pervades this dreamy circa 1909 scheme for a private dining hall. It’s one of the class assignments Izabel M. Coles (1890-1964) completed...

The English word filigree derives from the Latin filum, a thread, and grano, a grain or bead, through the Italian term filigrana. Filigree exists as a design technique even further back in antiquity than ancient Rome. While now a specialization, earlier jewelers, especially in Egypt, the Middle East, Italy, France and Spain, considered it part of...

Patriotic jewelry is a term for works that are inspired by national symbols like flags or their colors. In the United Sates, the American flag, “Old Glory,” along with the American eagle and Uncle Sam, have been among the most popular motifs. While patriotic jewelry in both precious and non-precious materials has been around at least...

The Castellani jewelry firm (1814 – 1927) became known for its “Italian Archaeological jewelry,”[1] which consisted of copies and imitations of Roman, Greek, and Etruscan jewelry. The firm’s works in this style became especially popular starting in the 1850s due to a rise in nationalism as a result of efforts to unify Italy, though they...

An early September drive into New Hampshire took me out of my routine, away from my desk, and encouraged me to slow down and catch the transition from summer to autumn, something I’ve missed in recent years. The warm and intense autumn colors of New England foliage were a special treat, and come to mind as I study,...

In summer, when weddings are frequent, the thought of objects given in affection or love, makes a visit to the jewelry collection seem appropriate. This heart-form brooch is one of a group of jewelry by Charles Horner (English, 1821-1896) given to the Museum in December. Horner (English, 1821-1896) was an actual silversmith, watchmaker and enamellist...

DesignBoost NYC was a two-day design conference held at Cooper-Hewitt in June 2011. Thirteen speakers specializing in everything from biomechanics to filmmaking addressed the conference’s theme, “Design Beyond Design” in this series of short talks.

A piece called Euphoria of Lights: The Comte’s Pyramid Ring, which can be virtually "tried on" with augmented reality. The Man Who Knows Everything is the name of a new jewelry collection from London designer Hannah Martin. The collection is inspired by the Count of St. Germain, an eighteenth-century German alchemist who chased immortality. To...

Jewelry can help create a public persona, and in turn the wearer can help promote style. Something treasured, jewelry is rich with private symbolism for its recipients, givers, and owners. The jewelry of Van Cleef & Arpels has been worn by Grace Kelly, Jacqueline Kennedy, Elizabeth Taylor, and many others in the public eye. Come...