Wearing special jewelry to celebrate Christmas is a tradition that started in Victorian times. Today, it is a very popular way for people to show their excitement about the festive season. Christmas jewelry comes in a lot of different forms. You can get brooches, pins, earrings, bracelets, necklaces and pendants.
There are also a lot of different designs available. Christmas trees are very popular, with little gems in place of baubles. Unsurprisingly, Santa Claus jewellery is also a real favorite. Other popular designs include reindeers, trumpeting angels, stars of Bethlehem and silver bells.
The Christmas tree became really popular in the 1940s. It is typically manufactured using gilded metal, and the stones are usually rhinestones in red and green. It's a really cheerful (and comparatively inexpensive) way of brightening up an outfit such as a thick winter overcoat.
Amongst jewelry aficionados, one particular name comes to mind when Christmas Tree pins are mentioned: Stanley Hagler. Hagler started his own jewelry company in 1957, and quickly made a name for himself with some really distinctive and original festive designs. Iconic Hagler Christmas Tree pin designs includes mother-of-pearl trees with glass flowers, and small three sided pins with murano glass beads.
Another famous designer was the aptly-named Hollycraft, who were known for including multi-coloured rhinestones, carefully placed on branches made from gilted metal. If you want something frostier looking, then Eisenberg Ice is the designer for you - they use white enamel with a frosted finish to give that frozen look to your Christmas Tree Brooch. Topped off with emerald and ruby rhinestones, the effect is exquisite.
If you have a taste for 'bling' style pieces of jewelry, then you should check out Larry Vrba. Like Stanley Hagler, Vrba was an associate of Miram Haskell, but he has a very different style. The art he creates is very stylised, and appealing in an over the top sort of way. One thing though - they don't really look like Christmas Trees. Christmas Medals of Honour would be a more appropriate description! A typical Vrba piece would be studded with fat aurora borealis stones, or perhaps some large cabochons, with the ever present rhinestone stars the crowing glory on top of the tree.
At the other end of the scale, Trifari produced very tasteful looking brooches, with jade glass boughs, and rhinestones in a nice cheerful red colour. A lot of them were formed from brushed gold, emphasising the branches of the tree. They also have very nice detailing in. In addition to their Christmas trees, they created some really nice vignettes from the 12 days of Christmas song, including a beautifully rendered partridge in a pear tree.
As you can probably tell from this article, Christmas is a theme which really fires the imagination of jewelry designers, and some really beautiful Christmas jewelry is around, if you know where to look. Many pieces are made in very short editions, so it's easy to find something attractive and unique to wear to the Christmas party, and maybe even help snag that special someone under the mistletoe!
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