Guide to Modern Jewellery: The 60s & 70s

Our real passion is jewellery from the Georgian period to the mid-century, but Olly, our founder, has never been able to resist the best jewellery of the 1960s and 1970s. It was a period of extraordinary energy in design: bold gold, raw crystals, playful animals and a sense of fun that had been missing from jewellery for decades.

In our collection we call this jewellery “Modern”, with a capital M. In America it is often called estate jewellery: pre-owned pieces from the more recent past, chosen for their design and quality.

How jewellery changed

The 1960s and 1970s turned jewellery on its head. Yellow gold returned in force, often textured, bark-like or hammered rather than polished. Designers used rough crystals, tourmalines, citrines and cabochons alongside diamonds, and scale grew: bold cocktail rings, big pendants and sculptural brooches. Animals and nature came back too, often with a sense of humour, like this 1970s gold mouse brooch with a ruby eye.

1960s and 1970s gold jewellery from our collection — 1960s and 1970s jewellery from our collection. See more

It was also the beginning of jewellery as fashion. Couture and luxury houses started designing jewellery as part of their collections, and for the first time many people chose jewellery to express their own style rather than simply to mark an occasion.

People are sometimes surprised that I buy jewellery from the sixties and seventies. But good design is good design, and a great 1970s gold brooch has more personality than most things made since.
Olly Gerrish, AJC Founder

Iconic jewellery designers

Andrew Grima in London made some of the most influential jewellery of the 1960s: textured gold set with raw crystals and unusual stones, looking more like sculpture than conventional jewellery.

Kutchinsky, also in London, was famous for bold, glamorous gold and gem-set jewellery in the 1960s and 1970s.

Georg Jensen in Copenhagen worked with designers such as Nanna and Jørgen Ditzel, whose clean Scandinavian forms, like this 1960s gold clam shell brooch, still look fresh.

Hermès produced jewellery by George Lenfant, including this 1960s gold deer’s head brooch.

Van Cleef & Arpels introduced the Alhambra clover in 1968, and Cartier‘s Love bracelet followed in 1969: two designs that are still made today.

What we look for

With Modern jewellery we look first at design and making: strong, original forms, well finished on the back as well as the front. Signed pieces by the great names command a premium, but some of the best 1960s and 1970s jewellery is unsigned, and the quality of the gold and the stones tells you most of what you need to know.

French 18ct Gold 1970s Wave Ring set with Diamonds by Roger Mathon

Our view

The best Modern jewellery is still undervalued compared with earlier periods, and it is extremely wearable: bold enough to make a statement, robust enough for everyday life. A sculptural gold ring or an animal brooch from the 1970s is a wonderful way to add something unexpected to a collection. See our Modern jewellery and mid-century jewellery.