Diamond & Estate Jewellery

At Aquarian Pearls we are growing our trade in Antique and Estate jewellery as well as diamond set jewellery which we are able to be purchased at very reasonable and often bargain prices from our partners and suppliers in The United States.

These items are usually set in platinum, 18 carat gold and occasionally silver, and come in a variety of designs and shapes and sizes and items. Mostly rings , but also, earrings, pendants, brooches and bracelets and necklaces and cufflinks.

The estate and antique jewellery incorporates many precious stones such as diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires and pearls. There is also a considerable trade in the following semi precious stones; Aquamarine, Alexandrite, Tourmalines, Spinels, Amethysts, Turquoise, Onyx, Citrine, Kunzite, Morganite, Tanzanite, Coral, Mother of Pearl, Mabe pearl, Opal, Garnet, Jade, Heliodor, Peridot, Quartz and Rhodolite.

These are the eras and periods of time in which jewellery making can be split into for basic explanations of the style of the times

Medieval jewellery 1200-1500 – The jewellery worn in medieval Europe reflected an intensely hierarchical and status-conscious society. Royalty and the nobility wore gold, silver and precious gems. Lower ranks of society wore base metals, such as copper or pewter.

Renaissance jewellery 1500 – 1830 CE – Renaissance jewels shared the age’s passion for splendour. Enamels, often covering both sides of the jewel, became more elaborate and colourful and advances in cutting techniques increased the glitter of stones.

17th-century jewellery – By the mid-17th century, changes in fashion had introduced new styles of jewellery. While dark fabrics required elaborate gold jewellery, the new softer pastel shades became graceful backdrops for gemstones and pearls. Expanding global trade made gemstones ever more available. Advances in cutting techniques increased the sparkle of gemstones in candlelight.

The East India Company was founded by British interests in 1600 and traded in the Indian subcontinent , Burma , South East Asia and parts of the Persian Gulf and was a huge trader in gemstones of all kinds .

18th-century jewellery – 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 jewellery design. Frequently mounted in silver to enhance the stone’s white colour, magnificent sets of diamond jewels were essential for court life.

19th-century jewellery – The 19th century was a period of huge industrial and social change, but in jewellery design the focus was often on the past. In the first decades classical styles were popular, evoking the glories of ancient Greece and Rome.

Arts & crafts jewellery 1860 – 1920 – Developing in the last years of the 19th century, the Arts and Crafts movement was based on a profound unease with the industrialised world. Its jewellers rejected the machine-led factory system – by now the source of most affordable pieces – and instead focused on hand-crafting individual jewels. This process, they believed, would improve the soul of the workman as well as the end design.

Art Nouveau jewellery 1895-1910 – The Art Nouveau style caused a dramatic shift in jewellery design, reaching a peak around 1900 when it triumphed at the Paris International Exhibition.

Art Deco jewellery 1920 – 1950s – Although buffeted by cycles of boom, depression and war, jewellery design between the 1920s and 1950s continued to be both innovative and glamorous. Sharp, geometric patterns celebrated the machine age, while exotic creations inspired by the Near and Far East hinted that jewellery fashions were truly international.

Contemporary jewellery – Since the 1960s the boundaries of jewellery have been continually redefined. Conventions have been challenged by successive generations of independent jewellers, often educated at art college and immersed in radical ideas.

At Aquarian Pearls we also deal in signed pieces of jewellery by the most famous jewellery houses in the world, to name a few , Cartier , Mikimoto , Tiffany, Van Cleef and Arpels, Bulgari. We buy and sell these pieces which can be described as shopworn, in that they have been displayed and tried on in retail stores but never before sold to an end consumer. These pieces of jewellery often find their way to the worlds auction rooms in the form of rings, bracelets, necklaces, pendants, earrings, and cuff links.

At Aquarian pearls we have also expanded our business in Diamond Jewellery .

We sell diamond rings, diamond bracelets and tennis bracelets, diamond earrings, diamond studs in a variety of sizes, diamond pendants and diamond necklaces . We source these diamonds in the United States and offer them at very competitive prices .

We will continue to expand our knowledge and our range of estate and antique jewellery and diamond jewellery as well as our pearl business and we sell these direct to the public from our office at 155 King Street , three floors above Hermes in Sydney’s CBD .