Our May Antique of the Month!!

To finish this fabulous month of May, where we celebrated many special moments of Mothers, Emeralds, the Blush Cancer Care High Tea and Sir Bob Geldof’s visit to Toowoomba, may we introduce this worthy, and extraordinarily beautiful , French Art Feco diamond cluster pendant. 

Whispers of Grace: Ribbons, Bows, and the Magic of Old-Cut Diamonds in Edwardian to Art Deco Jewellery

There is a language spoken by antique jewellery — a quiet, elegant poetry told not in words, but in form, proportion, and the choice of a stone. Among its most enduring motifs is the ribbon and bow — a design that drapes its way through the late 19th and early 20th centuries with grace and symbolic resonance. When paired with the glint of a hand-cut diamond, particularly in a delicate pendant, the result is nothing short of exquisite.

The Ribbon and Bow: A Timeless Symbol of Love and Femininity

In Edwardian and early Art Deco design, the ribbon was more than an ornamental flourish. It spoke of sentiment, of ties that bind — gently, with elegance. Inspired by the textiles and silhouettes of high society, bows represented devotion, romance, and the ephemeral beauty of life’s delicate moments.

Jewellers of the early 1900s, working in an age that prized lightness and lace, translated these textile motifs into fine platinum and gold, crafting ribbons that appeared to flutter, frozen mid-knot, catching the light with every movement. These designs often adorned pendants, brooches, and hairpieces — sometimes paired with drops of natural pearls or singular, antique-cut diamonds.

As the Art Deco era began to influence design in the 1920s, the softness of the Edwardian ribbon gave way to more stylised, geometric interpretations — bows reduced to a refined architecture, still feminine but now with sharper lines, echoing the evolving spirit of modern womanhood.

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