Mastery of Design: The Goldstein Coral and Diamond Earrings, 1925

The Victoria & Albert Museum

Made in the France In 1925, these long earrings of coral, black onyx and diamonds set in platinum show the rise in fashion of the chandelier earring in the early Art Deco period.

A September 1925 issue of the "Illustrated London News" attributed this trend to changing hairstyles, stating, "As the fashion for Eton cropped heads grows daily, long, decorative ear-rings are becoming increasingly fashionable." Still, that same year, the fashion was bemoaned as Queen Magazine opined, "now no ornament is worn in the hair for dances."

Jewelers fumed as even the fashion for long earrings did not compensate for the decline in demand for larger jeweled combs, hair ornaments and slides.