Wearing far fewer bracelets together at one time than their Victorian counterparts, the fashion for bracelets turned to delicate tapered designs with repeating motifs, elongated forms, or links in the new more refined style afforded by platinum. Another popular bracelet fashion was composed of a front section of beautiful, gem-set design completed by expanding and contracting plain links circling to the underside of the wrist. These bracelets were easy to fit to the wearer and less expensive because they only employed gemstones on the top side.

Tiaras were essential for the well-to-do and the elite and the advent of platinum allowed them to be elaborate and large without being heavy and unwieldy. The pervasive garland style resulted in fabulous tiaras with festoons and loops suspending all manner of pendeloques, pearls, and the like. As the first decade of the new century progressed, the tiara evolved into a bandeau, worn across the forehead, styled daintily in platinum, encrusted with diamonds, and secured with a ribbon tied at the back of the head. A new design referred to as the meander tiara, with a geometric Greek key motif, was very popular. Aigrettes, in a plethora of naturalistic styles with feathers reaching new heights, replaced the nineteenth-century custom of wearing brooches as hair ornaments.

Rings featured many of the same bow and garland motifs with large centerstones encircled by calibré-cut colored stones or small diamonds. The fashion was for rings to be stacked, often with multiples worn on each finger. Larger, more substantial rings with an elongated outline, pierced and paved with myriad of diamonds and colored stones, decorated the finger from knuckle to knuckle.

Buckles and slides also enjoyed a resurgence as they were often employed to cinch in the waistline required by the narrower feminine silhouette. Buckles could also be substituted for diadems with the addition of a ribbon to secure them around the head. Parures all but disappeared from jewelry wardrobes, replaced by combinations of jewelry worn together as if they matched but with distinctly different designs. Elements previously seen as critical to complete an ensemble were now impossible to wear-sewing large, heavy jeweled elements onto gossamer fabrics was simply not plausible. The monochromatic nature of this platinum and diamond jewelry allowed for an easy routine of mix and match to accessorize both day and evening.

Circa 1910 the fashion turned to “black and white” and platinum and diamond jewels were pinned to black ribbons and accented by black enamel or onyx. These jewels served double duty as they could be worn for any occasion and did not violate mourning etiquette.

Following quickly on its heels, a stylistic about-face with a distinct Oriental influence blew into town with the Ballets Russes’ June 4, 1910, Paris performance of Schéhérazade. Peacock feathers, lotus blossoms, and aigrettes all studded with a rainbow of colored gems were suddenly in vogue. Amethyst, turquoise, Montana sapphires, opals, and demantoid garnets all in newly designed cuts; calibré, baguette, and marquises, along with briolettes, breathed new life into jewelry styles.

Developing and evolving alongside the “Edwardian” style, were the “Art Nouveau” and “Arts & Crafts” aesthetics. Also growing out of a rejection of machine-made jewelry and a prolonged period of mourning jewelry, these two aesthetics were vastly different from their “Edwardian” sibling. Sharing some stylistic lines and profiles, the materials, methods of manufacture, metals, and gems, were vastly different. All three aesthetics continued until the outbreak of World War I, four years after the death of Edward VII. Formal occasions and parties disappeared overnight and the light-hearted Edwardian spirit came to an abrupt end. Life changed dramatically in a heartbeat and jewelry all but disappeared. Precious metals became scarce and platinum, which was used in the manufacture of armaments, disappeared almost before it gained a foothold as a “precious” metal.