18th century
JewelryWiki Editorial·1 source·Reviewed 2026-08-04
The brilliant cut arrives and diamonds take over — and then most of the jewellery is destroyed, by its own owners, for the stones.
Properties
| Property | Value | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Named for | The century; a chronological label. [1] | — |
| Defining traits | The end of the previous century had seen the development of the brilliant cut with its multiple facets. Diamonds sparkled as never before and came to dominate design. Magnificent sets of diamond jewels were essential for court life — the largest worn on the bodice, smaller ornaments scattered over an outfit. [1] | — |
| Characteristic stones and metals | Diamonds, frequently mounted in silver to enhance the stone’s white colour. Small swords count as male jewellery: by the 1750s their gold and silver hilts, mounted with precious stones and fine enamelling, were the work of goldsmiths and jewellers rather than swordsmiths. [1] | — |
| What to watch for | Very little 18th-century diamond jewellery survives, and the reason is worth knowing before paying a survivor’s premium: owners sold it or reset the stones into more fashionable designs, because the intrinsic value was in the diamonds rather than the setting. [1] | — |
Sources
- V&A — A history of jewellery — Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A, A history of jewellery)