Jewelry Events

The following exhibits offer a wide range of jewelry to study and admire, in person and online as well.

Exhibits

Ornament as Art: Avant-Garde Jewelry from the Helen Williams Drutt Collection
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Renwick Gallery, Washington DC
March 14 to July 6, 2008
250 examples of "contemporary jewelry from a global perspective"
~Visit Site~

Wine, Worship & Sacrifice: The Golden Graves of Ancient Vani
New York University, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World
New York, New York
Through June 1, 2008
On display are over 100 objects from ancient Georgia, including spectacular examples of gold jewelry, discovered in graves dating from the fifth and fourth centuries B.C.
~ Visit Site~

Gems! Colors of Light and Stone: The Michael Scott Collection
Bowers Museum, Santa Ana, California
Until June 16, 2008
On exhibition are most of the major gem species in every color and variety known, including rare examples of little known color varieties such as green tanzanites and electric-blue Paraiba tourmalines. Also on exhibit are antique jewelry from the mid-19th to early 20th centuries; spectacular gem carvings, and the work of contemporary artist, John Marshall.
~Visit Site~

WIENER WERKSTÄTTE JEWELRY
Neue Galerie, New York, New York
March 27 to June 30, 2008
On exhibit will be more than forty Šmasterpieces created by the Wiener Werkstätte, created between 1903 and 1920. Pieces by the artists, Josef Hoffmann, Koloman Moser, Carl Otto Czeschka, and Dagobert Peche will be featured. ~Visit site~

Artistic Luxury: Fabergé, Tiffany, Lalique
The Cleveland Museum of Art
October 19, 2008 - January 19, 2009
"This exhibition marks the first comparative study of three of the greatest jewelry and luxury goods designers at the turn of the 20th century: Peter Carl Fabergé, Louis Comfort Tiffany, and René Lalique....The most elaborate of their designs for the Paris World's Fair will be reunited for the first time in a gallery recreating the ambience of this opulent exhibition."
~Visit Site~

Permanent Exhibits Around the World

Providence Jewelry Museum, Providence, Rhode Island
Heralded by the Museum as America's Jewelry Showplace, the Providence Jewelry Museum includes a broad collection of fine and fashion jewelry from the 18th century to the present.  Some pieces come from around the world but many were produced in Providence and the local region.
~Visit Site~

Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, PA
Wertz Gallery: Gems and Jewelry
This 2,000­square­foot addition to Hillman Hall of Minerals and Gems is dedicated to gems, the crystals they come from, and jewelry comprised of these precious stones.
~Visit Site~

Here is a video of the opening of the Wertz Gallery:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsTEFhRNP5E

Ilias Lalaounis Jewelry Museum, Athens, Greece
This permanent exhibition displays "3000 pieces of jewelry and micro-sculpture from 45 collections designed by Lalaounis in the period 1940-1992. They include jewelry inspired by prehistoric art, Bronze Age Greece, Greek jewelry from the Classical and the Hellenistic periods, Byzantium, the art of Persia, the Ottoman Empire and the Far East, as well as creations marking developments in technology and science, from breakthroughs in biology to space travel."
~Visit Site~

Virtual Exhibits on the Web

Smithsonian Museum, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Wine, Worship & Sacrifice: the golden graves of ancient Vani/ treasures from Georgia
originally exhibited from Dec. 2007 to Feb. 2008
The exhibit includes spectacular gold, silver, ceramic vessels, jewelry, Greek bronze sculpture, Greek and Colchian coins, and Greek glassware gathered from ancient Colchis in Georgia.
~Visit Site~

American Museum of Natural History, New York City, NY
The AMNH has exhibited a dazzling array of collections of gems and jewel over the past years. Here are some of them, preserved for the web:

Gold
(originally exhibited from Nov. 2006 to Aug. 2007)
This virtual exhibition examines the science and cultural influence of civilization's most sought-after mineral illustrated by specimens and artifacts.
~Visit Site~

Totems to Turquoise: Native North American Jewelry Arts of the Northwest and Southwest
(originally exhibited from Oct. 2004 to July 2005)
This virtual exhibit illustrates the history of jewelry making among Native peoples of North America from ancient times to today.
~Visit Site~

Pearls (originally exhibited from Oct. 2001 to April 2002)
This virtual exhibit explains the origin and types of pearls and defines their trade, use and value through human history.
~Visit Site~