1925 – 2025 : A Century of Modern Jewelry

To mark the hundredth anniversary of the 1925 Exhibition that established the Art Deco style, jewelry Maisons and cultural institutions – from Paris to Geneva and Tokyo – are celebrating an artistic legacy that continues to inspire contemporary creation.

To commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the 1925 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts, a series of exhibitions is reigniting our imagination: Paris 1925: Art Deco and its Architects at the Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine; 1925-2025. 100 Years of Art Deco at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (MAD); Louis Vuitton Art Deco at LV Dream; and Timeless Art Deco with Van Cleef & Arpels High Jewelry in Tokyo – to name only the most significant events. In parallel with the Tokyo exhibition, L’École des Arts Joailliers is hosting lectures, including ‘Paris 1925: Following the Trail of Art Deco Jewelry’ and ‘The Pearl, Queen of Art Deco.’ Back in May, the GemGenève fair devoted an entire exhibition, catalog and expert-led conferences to this very theme.

A new era, and new ways of life

Historians trace the beginnings of the Art Deco period to around 1910, but it was the 1925 Paris Exhibition – held from April to October – that truly brought this new aesthetic to worldwide attention, expressing the social and technological changes of the early twentieth century. Life was accelerating, propelled by electricity, the automobile and the telephone. Women were emancipating themselves, cutting their hair, wearing trousers, smoking and traveling in the age of Paul Poiret and Coco Chanel, both known for liberating the female body. Jewelers, artists, architects and interior designers sought to create a world of forms imbued with simplicity and functionality, mirroring this new way of life.

Cartier, platinum brooch, with diamonds, cultured pearl, rock crystal, onyx, 1924 © Cartier Collection / Vincent Wulveryck

Colors and materials

The Art Deco style is often associated with clean geometric forms, dazzling diamonds, and shiny platinum, but that is only part of the story. The newly introduced baguette-cut diamond suited this aesthetic perfectly, yet color soon asserted its place through enamel, lacquer, hard stones (turquoise, malachite, lapis lazuli, onyx, jade), rock crystal and organic materials such as coral. Matte surfaces created striking contrasts with gemstones, instilling a new concept of luxury that was bolder, more modern and less ostentatious.

Though many of the great Art Deco jewelers (Jean Fouquet, Lacloche Frères, Gérard Sandoz, René Boivin, Suzanne Belperron, Raymond Templier) have since disappeared, their spirit endures. Belperron’s designs have been reworked in recent years, and some fifteen pieces by Raymond Templier are currently being reproduced.

The pure, minimalist style of Art Deco remains highly sought-after at auction. Last year, a Cartier diamond brooch sold for fourteen times its estimate, while a relatively simple Jean Fouquet necklace from 1925–1930 in metal, gold and aquamarine fetched more than double its estimate, achieving €980,000. The MAD exhibition 1925–2025:100 Years of Art Deco reveals over 1,200 works, including magnificent heritage pieces by these long-vanished jewelers. A dedicated space honors Cartier, which was one of the leading Art Deco jewelers alongside Boucheron and Mauboussin. The museum offers visitors the chance to rediscover masterpieces that combine precious and simple materials, vivid colors, and restrained forms – sometimes inspired directly by industrial design, such as Jean Lambert-Rucki, Georges Fouquet and Charles Girard’s gold clip (1937).

Jean Lambert Rucki, Georges Fouquet, Charles Girard, gold clip, 1937 © Les Arts Décoratifs / Jean Tholancee

A universal language

Art Deco spread across the world at a time when the elite were beginning to travel widely. In Asia, aristocrats and wealthy collectors embraced this Western-born artistic movement, whose language resonated across all cultures.

Van Cleef & Arpels, Entwined Flowers, Red and White Roses bracelet, with platinum, emeralds, rubies, onyx, yellow diamonds and diamonds, 1924 Van Cleef & Arpels Collection © Van Cleef & Arpels

In Tokyo, the Art Deco villa commissioned by Prince and Princess Asaka – now the Teien Art Museum – stands as a stunning architectural fantasy. To bring their vision to life, the royal couple enlisted some of France’s finest creators and artisans, including Lalique, Henri Rapin, Pierre Chareau, Raymond Subes and Léon Alexandre Blanchot. It is in this historic setting, shaped by the passion of a Japanese prince, that Van Cleef & Arpels is presenting – until January 18, 2026 – an exhibition of 250 pieces from this period, accompanied by 60 archival documents.

Among them are the famous Entwined Flowers, Red and White Roses Bracelet (rubies and diamonds on platinum), winner of a Grand Prix at the 1925 Exhibition, and the sumptuous Emerald and Diamond Collarette from 1929, once owned by Princess Fawzia of Egypt and now part of the Maison’s heritage.

Exoticism: a central component of Art Deco

It is no coincidence that Van Cleef & Arpels chose Japan as a focal point. Asian and Oriental arts – from India, China, Japan and Egypt – are inseparable from Art Deco and its jewelry. Examples include a jade and enamel vanity case inlaid with obi motifs (the open-fan patterns found on kimono sashes) and a transformable sautoir necklace from 1924 depicting a bouquet in a Japanese vase.

Sparked by the 1922 discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb, Egyptomania also influenced both Van Cleef & Arpels and Cartier. For Rue de la Paix-based Cartier, Orientalist inspiration was fundamental, drawn from Japan and China (where the Maison transformed carved jade pieces into jeweled creations) and India (whose engraved stones inspired the Tutti Frutti style).

Cartier, Hyderabad Tutti Frutti-style tiara, in platinum, with engraved 18.23-carat octagonal emerald, engraved sapphires and emeralds, ruby drops, ruby, sapphire and emerald pearls, onyx, triangular diamonds, brilliant cut diamonds, silk cord © Cartier Modern Collection

Finally, in the Islamic arts, Cartier found geometry and color harmonies (especially blues and greens) that foreshadowed Art Deco itself. In 2021, Cartier – often described as the “jeweler of forms” – devoted an exhibition at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs to these influences, interpreting its own creations through the lens of Islamic art.

For nearly a century, Cartier has claimed the Art Deco legacy as central to its identity: a territory defined by color contrasts, material interplay and perfectly balanced geometric forms; visible in its high jewelry as well as in the refined simplicity of its icons: Love, Trinity, Juste un Clou and Clash.

Boucheron recently celebrated India’s Art Deco heritage through its New Maharajah collection. The Maison’s Artistic Director Claire Choisne added a modern touch to the extraordinary commission the Maison created in 1928 for the Maharajah of Patiala. History, craftsmanship, modernity and legend merge in this collection that received wide praise from the press, some pieces of which were presented on male models to encourage men to embrace diamonds.

The dazzling diamond

Jewels composed solely of platinum and diamonds embody another facet of the Art Deco aesthetic. This spirit defined Gabrielle Chanel’s only high jewelry collection, Bijoux de Diamants (1932). “I chose the diamond because its dense nature represents the greatest value in the smallest volume,” she was known to have said, determined to restore women’s taste in precious jewels after the devastating 1929 crash. The central motifs of that collection – the comet, the sun and the moon – have inspired Chanel ever since. For the anniversary collection in 2022, Chanel 1932, celebrating the 90^th birthday of Bijoux de diamants, these celestial themes were reinterpreted in strikingly modern 21^st century Art Deco designs.

The brilliance of diamonds also radiates through Chanel’s N°5 Fine Jewelry Collection, created to celebrate the centenary of the legendary perfume launched in 1921, at the height of the Art Deco era. Its octagonal cabochon reappears in a necklace set with a rare 55.55-carat emerald-cut D FL (Type IIa) diamond. The cabochon and the five pear-shaped diamonds are all of exceptional quality – D FL (Type IIa).

The height of fashion at the time, octagons appeared in furniture, interior decor and jewelry, inspiring Harry Winston, founded in 1932 (the same year as Bijoux de diamants), to adopt it in his logo, boutiques and creations.

Louis Vuitton and the 1920s signature V

A relative newcomer to jewelry (since 2009), Louis Vuitton has nonetheless become a major player. The Maison draws inspiration from its origins – trunks, metal studs, braided cords, the V motif designed in the 1920s – as well as from the art and architecture of the late 19th century. Its jewelry interpretation stands out for its originality and craftsmanship, combining technical virtuosity with refined simplicity, exemplified by the ultra-geometric V Collection. Over 300 Art Deco pieces are currently on display at the Louis Vuitton Art Déco exhibition in Paris, a reminder that the Maison participated in the 1925 Exhibition, where it was already steeped in the spirit of travel.

By celebrating the centenary of Art Deco, the jewelry sector is bringing the public along on a fascinating journey through a style that redefined luxury for the modern age. A hundred years later, the Art Deco aesthetic continues to inspire jewelers, giving rise to beautifully simple and powerfully creative contemporary pieces that recenter us in the essence of emotion.

Chaumet, Triomphe ring in white gold, black lacquer and diamonds © Chaumet Modern Collection

Image : Façade of the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum where the exhibition Timeless Art déco with Van Cleef & Arpels High Jewelry is currently taking place