Contemporary
JewelryWiki Editorial·1 source·Reviewed 2026-08-04
Since the 1960s, jewellery in which the material carries no status at all and the object may not be comfortably wearable — deliberately.
Properties
| Property | Value | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Dates | Since the 1960s [1] | — |
| Named for | Its own present tense; a moving label rather than a fixed span. [1] | — |
| Defining traits | The boundaries of jewellery have been continually redefined. Conventions have been challenged by successive generations of independent jewellers, often art-college educated. Avant-garde artist-jewellers have explored the interaction of jewellery with the body, pushing scale and wearability to the limits; jewellery has developed into wearable art, and the debate on its relationship to fine art continues. [1] | — |
| Characteristic stones and metals | New technologies and non-precious materials — including plastics, paper and textiles — have overturned the notions of status traditionally implicit in jewellery. [1] | — |
| What to watch for | The one period on this page where intrinsic material value and market value are routinely unrelated. A contemporary piece in paper or plastic can be worth many times a gold one, and melt value is no floor at all. [1] | — |
Sources
- V&A — A history of jewellery — Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A, A history of jewellery)