FASHION
The factor of fashion is closely related to those of attractiveness and rarity. What was considered attractive yesterday may not be attractive today, and today’s standards may be displaced by others tomorrow. By today’s standards, black gems are not attractive and are seldom worn except in the case of the small black-dyed onyx-chalcedony plaques some¬times seen in rings. But in the 19th century it became fashionable to wear jet jewelry for mourning, sometimes in incredible quantity. In the the same century, the opal, much maligned because of superstitious beliefs in its evil powers, became fashionable after Queen Victoria re¬stored it to favor by wearing opal-set jewelry whenever it was appropriate to do so. Near the turn of the century and for about 15 years afterward, the art nouveau style reigned in the world of fine arts and influenced the design of jewelry. Because the naturalistic designs were better com¬plemented by cabochon gems, they were used in much larger quantities than before and of course required the use of gemstones suited to cabo¬chon cutting rather than those transparent kinds traditionally cut into faceted gems.

A curious instance of fashion turning against a gem because of the factor of rarity involves the pearl. At one time it was fashionable among the wealthy to wear chokers, necklaces, bracelets, rings, diadems, and chatelaines strung or set with natural pearls. When Mikimoto and other Japanese perfected the techniques of producing cultured pearls in large quantities, the market in natural pearls suffered a disastrous setback from which it has never fully recovered. The extremely close resemblance of cultured pearls of good quality to natural pearls at once placed pearl in the category of common instead of rare and resulted in a greatly lessened demand for natural examples by those who wore them as symbols of wealth and position. While natural pearls are still highly esteemed, they no longer occupy their once exalted position.