The Post-War 1940s

Precious metals again became rare, platinum was almost unobtainable, gold was scarce and rationed everywhere.

If precious metals, gold and platinum, were melted, twenty per cent of the fine content had to go to the State. Precious gemstones were affected as the supply of South African diamonds and Siamese and Burmese rubies and sapphires was very irregular.

Many craftsmen volunteered for, or were conscripted into, the armed forces, or turned their skills to the armament industry. Large scale bombing of the industrial centres, particularly in England and Germany, reduced production still further.

 The very few jewels produced in Germany during the war years were mainly in silver, decorated with enamel, or made of very thin gold wire.In England, the major jewellery houses, such as Cartier, prudently transferred their valuable stocks to places less likely to be affected by the destruction of the war,

 Only in France was the situation slightly better; in the German occupied Paris of the early 1940s, the famous jewellery houses continued their business, admirably coping with the scarcity of precious materials and labour. Old jewels were broken up and remounted, and precious stones, stocked in the pre-war years, were used parsimoniously.

 Although the jewellery business did not cease completely during the war, the production of those years is characterised by a lack of new ideas in design. The famous jewellery houses continued to produce jewels based on pre-war models: massive, decorated with scrolls, straps and buckles, and bridge motifs, mainly made of gold and set with diamonds combined with rubies and sapphires, often synthetic, to overcome the scarcity of natural stones.

 

 

Retro gold tank bracelet

 

In the 1940s, the opulence of large gems and the richness of surfaces entirely pave-set with diamonds. The scarcity of precious stones turned attention towards semiprecious stones. Citrin quartz in all its colour variations, from lemony yellow to deep brown, and aquamarine, amethysts and topazes enjoyed great favour. The scarcity of gold did not influence the shape of jewels, which remained massive looking and voluminous, but they became lighter, made of thin sheets of metal.

 

 

18 Karat Gold, Platinum, Ruby and Diamond 'Reflection' Cuff-Bracelet, Trabert & Hoeffer – Mauboussin