Art Nouveau, meaning “new art” is quintessentially French with a short life span of about fifteen years. Jewellery design with its organic movement were very woman-centric, incorporating flowers, insects and unthreatening female form with flowing hair. Pieces were often over the top and expensive to make hence they were only worn by the wealthy and artistic types. The most popular technique is plique-à-jour enamel work which is translucent. In French, it means “letting in daylight”, so imagine stained glass window effect. Gemstones were used though predominantly as highlights such as this beautiful and rare gold ring with diamond and seed pearls.