Besides the famous imperial eggs, Fabergé made literally thousands of miniature jewelled eggs in amazing variety; rarely were two alike. These diminutive eggs were considered ideal gifts for Edwardian ladies and gentlemen alike, establishing a collecting tradition that epitomised the era's love of personal jewellery. Ladies could suspend them from sautoir necklaces or chain-link bracelets, building collections that told stories of travels, celebrations, and cherished memories.
The Edwardian passion for charm jewellery extended far beyond Fabergé's eggs to encompass an extraordinary variety of miniature objects, mechanical marvels, and symbolic pendants. These intimate pieces of jewellery served as wearable autobiographies, each charm marking significant moments in the wearer's life whilst demonstrating the jeweller's ability to work miracles in miniature.
The Sautoir: Foundation of Edwardian Charm Wearing
The sautoir emerged as the quintessential Edwardian necklace, providing the perfect vehicle for displaying charms and pendants. These long chains, often exceeding 60 inches, could be wrapped twice around the neck or worn hanging free to the waist. Their length and versatility made them ideal for adding multiple charms over time.
Construction and Materials
Sautoirs were crafted in various styles to suit different occasions and budgets. Woven seed pearl sautoirs created delicate, feminine foundations for lightweight charms. Spectacle-set diamond chains provided maximum sparkle for evening wear. Gold and platinum link chains offered durability for daily wear. Multi-strand seed pearl ropes, called bayadères, terminated with elaborate jewelled tassels.
After 1910, seed pearls woven into long, flat bands became particularly fashionable. These sautoirs usually terminated with matching enamelled pendants featuring guilloché patterns beneath translucent colours. The precise machine engraving created patterns mimicking moiré silk, adding depth and luminosity to the enamel.
Wearing and Display
Edwardian ladies developed elaborate ways of wearing sautoirs. The chains might be wrapped twice around the neck with pendants hanging at varying lengths, draped asymmetrically with charms clustered at one side, passed through a brooch to create swags and festoons, or worn simply hanging free for maximum movement and display. The wearing style often changed throughout an evening, demonstrating the jewellery's versatility.
Fabergé's Miniature Eggs: Infinite Variety
Fabergé's workshop produced thousands of miniature eggs, each unique in design, materials, and decoration. These eggs typically measured between 15mm and 40mm in height, small enough to wear comfortably yet large enough to display intricate decoration.
Techniques and Decoration
The variety of decoration techniques employed was extraordinary. Guilloché enamel created jewel-like surfaces in every colour imaginable. Gems were pavé-set to create glittering surfaces of diamonds, rubies, or sapphires. Hardstones like nephrite, bowenite, and rock crystal were carved and polished. Combinations of materials created contrast: gold with steel, enamel with diamonds, hardstone with precious metal mounts.
Many eggs featured additional elements: miniature portraits under crystal, surprise mechanisms revealing hidden compartments, functional elements like watches or compasses, religious symbols for Easter gifts, and personal monograms or dates commemorating specific events.
Symbolic Significance
Eggs carried profound symbolism in Edwardian society, representing new life, resurrection, and fertility—particularly appropriate for Easter gifts. They also symbolised potential and hidden surprises, perfectly suiting the Edwardian love of novelty. Different colours carried specific meanings: red for passion, white for purity, blue for constancy, green for hope, and purple for royalty.
Mechanical Charms: Engineering in Miniature
Edwardian jewellers delighted in creating mechanical charms with moving parts, demonstrating technical mastery on the smallest scale. These pieces combined the decorative with the functional, creating jewellery that entertained as well as adorned.
Types of Mechanical Charms
The variety of mechanical charms was limited only by jewellers' imagination. Opening and closing mechanisms included lockets revealing photographs or hair compartments, books with turning golden pages, boxes containing tiny dice or pills, and shells opening to show pearls. Moving parts featured windmills with rotating blades, carousels that actually turned, cars with spinning wheels, and propellers that spun freely.
Functional mechanisms incorporated working compasses for travellers, tiny watches keeping accurate time, whistles that actually sounded, and sovereign cases protecting gold coins. Some charms combined multiple mechanical elements, creating complex miniature machines.
Technical Challenges
Creating mechanical charms required exceptional skill. Jewellers had to engineer mechanisms robust enough to withstand daily wear, ensure moving parts operated smoothly without jamming, protect delicate components from damage, and maintain aesthetic appeal despite mechanical requirements. The finest examples operated as smoothly as full-sized counterparts despite their diminutive scale.
Commemorative and Personal Charms
Many Edwardian charms commemorated personal events, creating wearable histories of their owners' lives. These pieces held meaning beyond their decorative value, serving as tangible memories of important moments.
Travel Souvenirs
The Edwardian era's golden age of travel produced countless souvenir charms. Miniature Eiffel Towers recalled Parisian visits, gondolas commemorated Venetian holidays, pyramids marked Egyptian adventures, and ships recorded ocean voyages. These charms often incorporated local materials or techniques: Venetian glass, Florentine mosaics, Alpine crystals, or Scottish agates.
Milestone Markers
Significant life events warranted special charms. Birthday charms featured birthstones and dates. Wedding anniversaries brought hearts, flowers, or miniature churches. Academic achievements were marked with graduation caps or scrolls. Birth announcements took the form of cradles, bootees, or storks. Each charm became part of the wearer's personal narrative.
Portrait and Photographic Charms
Photographic technology allowed incorporation of actual portraits into charms. These might be simple locket-style frames, elaborate surrounds with gem decoration, or multiple photographs in folding cases. Some featured hand-painted miniatures on ivory, continuing an older tradition with Edwardian refinement.
Symbolic and Superstitious Charms
Edwardian society remained remarkably superstitious despite its modern outlook, and charm jewellery reflected these beliefs. Lucky symbols proliferated, each promising specific benefits to the wearer.
Lucky Symbols
Traditional lucky symbols appeared in countless variations. Four-leaf clovers in emerald and diamond promised general good fortune. Horseshoes in every precious metal warded off evil. Lucky number 7s and avoided 13s reflected numerical superstitions. Elephants with raised trunks brought prosperity. Black cats in jet or onyx offered protection.
Religious and Spiritual Charms
Religious charms provided spiritual protection and demonstrated faith. Crosses ranged from simple gold to elaborate gem-set examples. Saints' medals offered specific protections. Angels watched over the wearer. Stars of David and other religious symbols marked faith identity. Some charms incorporated prayers or biblical verses in minute engraving.
Love and Romance
Romantic symbolism pervaded charm collections. Hearts in every possible variation declared love. Cupid's arrows promised romantic success. Love knots symbolised unbreakable bonds. Forget-me-nots in turquoise and pearl begged remembrance. These charms often featured hidden messages, initials, or important dates known only to giver and receiver.
Charm Bracelets: Curated Collections
While sautoirs provided dramatic display for charms, bracelets offered more practical daily wear. Edwardian charm bracelets evolved from simple chains to elaborate constructions designed specifically for charm display.
Bracelet Styles
Link bracelets of gold or platinum provided sturdy foundations for heavier charms. Curb chains offered security with style. Gate bracelets, with their decorative front sections, balanced ornamentation with charm display. Expanding bracelets accommodated different wrist sizes whilst keeping charms properly positioned.
Some bracelets featured integrated charm attachments: padlock closures that doubled as decorative elements, safety chains preventing loss, and special links designed for easy charm addition. The finest examples balanced the bracelet's own decoration with space for personal charms.
Building a Collection
Edwardian ladies carefully curated their charm collections, following unwritten rules about arrangement and display. Charms were often grouped by theme: travel memories together, family commemorations clustered, lucky symbols balanced around the bracelet. Size and weight were considered to ensure comfortable wear. Colour coordination created visual harmony. Sound was considered—avoiding too many jingling charms for quiet occasions.
Materials and Quality
Charm jewellery appeared at every price point, from modest silver pieces to elaborate gold and gem creations. Understanding materials and construction helps identify quality and period.
Precious Metals
Gold remained the preferred metal for quality charms, available in various colours: yellow, rose, green, and white. Platinum's strength allowed for delicate construction impossible in gold. Silver provided affordability whilst maintaining quality. Base metals were gilt or plated for economical options. The finest pieces combined metals for visual contrast.
Gem Settings
Charms incorporated gems using period-appropriate techniques. Diamonds were millegrain set for extra sparkle. Coloured stones were bezel set for security. Seed pearls were threaded or pegged. Enamel provided colour without expense. The quality of setting work indicates period and value.
Enamel Excellence
Guilloché enamel represented the pinnacle of charm decoration. The process required machine engraving the metal base, applying multiple layers of translucent enamel, firing between each application, and final polishing to glass-like brilliance. Different patterns created varied effects: sunburst, wave, basketweave, and geometric designs.
Identifying Authentic Edwardian Charms
Distinguishing genuine Edwardian charms from later reproductions requires attention to construction details, materials, and wear patterns.
Construction Characteristics
Authentic Edwardian charms display hand-finishing even on production pieces, jump rings soldered closed for security, appropriate hallmarks for period and origin, and wear consistent with age and use. Mechanical parts show quality engineering with smooth operation.
Common Reproductions
Later reproductions often reveal themselves through anachronistic materials or techniques, machine-made uniformity lacking hand finishing, modern hallmarking systems, and inappropriate wear patterns or artificial ageing. Understanding period characteristics helps identify authentic pieces.
Condition Considerations
Condition significantly affects charm value. Enamel damage is difficult and expensive to restore. Missing parts, especially on mechanical charms, may be irreplaceable. Worn engraving or monograms reduce collector appeal. However, honest wear consistent with age can enhance charm character.
Collecting Strategies
Building a charm collection requires strategy beyond random acquisition. Successful collectors often focus on specific areas.
Thematic Collections
Focusing on themes creates coherent collections: specific makers like Fabergé or Cartier, particular subjects like animals or sports, mechanical charms demonstrating technical innovation, charms from specific regions or periods, and documented pieces with known provenance.
Investment Potential
Certain charms offer stronger investment potential. Signed pieces from prestigious makers command premiums. Rare or unusual subjects attract competitive bidding. Mechanical complexity adds value. Complete sets or related groups multiply individual values. Documentation and provenance significantly enhance worth.
Edwardian charm jewellery represents personal history made precious, combining individual narrative with jewellers' finest skills. From Fabergé's thousand unique eggs to mechanical marvels that still function perfectly, these miniature masterpieces capture the Edwardian era's distinctive combination of sentiment and sophistication. For modern collectors, they offer not just beautiful objects but intimate connections to personalities from a vanished age, each charm whispering stories of lives lived with style and remembrance carefully preserved in gold and gems.