A Brief History of Marcasite Jewelry
The fascinating stone we call marcasite (more accurately, Pyrite or Iron Sulphite) has been used as an adornment for thousands of years. Archeologists have found evidence of its use in ancient Greece and Rome. It was also treasured by the Incas, and has been found in ancient native American burial mounds.
More recently, marcasite has enjoyed popularity in fashion over the last 300 years.
The 1700's and 1800's
The fashionably well-to-do of the 18th century favored jewelry with diamonds set in sterling silver. For those who could not afford such luxuries, marcasite became a popular stand-in for the diamonds. This period marks the first known use of marcasite as a substitute for diamonds.
Marcasite enjoyed another fling of popularity during the mid to late1800's - the Victorian era. Victorian jewelry with marcasites can still be found today in antique shops and auctions.
At the end of the Victorian era, marcasite once again faded into obscurity ... for a while.
Shop for vintage and antique marcasite jewelry
Marcasite Jewelry in the 20th Century
It was designer Coco Chanel who first sparked public interest in costume jewelry in the mid 1920's. Regarding her jewelry, she was once quipped "It does not matter if they are real as long as they LOOK like junk." Chanel and rival designer Elsa Schiaparelli promoted the wearing of faux jewelry (of the type we'd call "statement jewelry" today) as an accessory. Inexpensive and oh-so-sparkley, marcasite once again began to appear on the fashion scene - this time not as a substitute for diamonds but as a featured gemstone in its own right.
In the 1920's- 1930's, Art Deco era (especially during and after the Great Depression), the market for inexpensive and costume jewelry reached a peak. After months of frugality, women yearned to adorn their wardrobes with glittery baubles again. Marcasite jewelry filled that void costing vulgar sums of money ( lavish spending would have been in poor taste, given the economic woes of the time.)
Art Deco and Theodor Fahrner
A look at marcasite jewelry during the Art Deco era wouldn't be complete without mentioning Theodor Fahrner. The Fahner jewelry firm, probably best known for their Jugendstil or "youth style" artistic jewelry of the Art Nouveau era, became a noted producer of fine, high-quality Art Deco pieces set with marcasites and other colored stones, including smoky quartz, rock crystal, onyx, carnelian,chrysoprase, lapis lazuli and coral. Other german manufacturers imitated this trend, often using inexpensive colored stones like chalcedony (dyed blue or green) .
Unfortunately, the historical archves of Theodor Fahner were lost when the factory was destroyed by a bomb during WWII. so detailed information about the pieces and the designers that created them is hard to come by. However all available information about this influential jewelry house is chronicled in detail (along with some beautiful photos of the jewelry) in the book "Theodor Fahrner Jewelry...Between Avant-Garde and Tradition" by Ulrike Von Hase-Schmundt, Christianne Weber, and Ingeborg Becker.
Modern Marcasite - Judith Jack
After the Art Deco era, marcasite once again fell out of favor, as other new jewelry trends emerged.
In the 1980's and 90's, Judith and Jack Rosenberg were collectors and sellers of antique and estate jewelry. They began to notice that antique marcasite pieces in particular were selling as quickly as they could put them in the showcase! Unable to buy up enough authentic antiques to satisfy their eager customers, they began to manufacture high-quality reproductions, eventualy branching out into vintage-inspired. new and original designs which were reminiscent of the marcasite jewelry of the 20's and 30's.
Still popular today, Judith Jack marcasite jewelry is constructed with attention to quality and detail. Metalwork is properly finished on the front front and and rear of each piece, and the marcasites used are bead-set "A" quality stones.