Jewelry Sets

The notion of jewelry sets can trace its roots to the royal courts of medieval Europe, wherein wealthy rulers and the members of their aristocratic courts would commission customized gem and pearl encrusted jewelry suites. Such sets became the root of massive royal collections of jewels, such as the British Royal Crown Jewels, which featured cut gems of unfathomable proportions that could be interchanged with different pieces in the suite. The “Star of Africa” diamond, typically the star of the British Royal Scepter, can be removed and worn alternately as a brooch.

Jewelry sets thus became synonymous with cultivated jewelry collecting, a connotation that continued for generations and that was bolstered with 20th-century jewelry trends. In the early decades of the 1900s, high-end jewelry designers began introducing extended jewelry lines and sets alongside the explosion of the costume jewelry industry.

The rise of elegant paste and rhinestone crystal sets by makers such as Weiss or Eisenberg rekindled the popularity of the purchased jewelry set. For collectors of vintage and antique jewelry sets, it can be challenging (and very rewarding) to find a one that's both complete and in commendable condition.