If you get the opportunity to go before April, The Museum of London has a major new exhibition investigating the secrets of The Cheapside Hoard. This extraordinary and priceless collection of late 16th and early 17th century jewels and gemstones – displayed in its entirety for the first time for a century – was discovered in 1912, unclaimed and buried in a cellar on Cheapside in the City of London. New research and state-of-the-art technology showcases Elizabethan and Jacobean London as a centre of craftsmanship – which continues.
Jewellery techniques are interesting to compare with modern day standards and the technology we know and apply now. Tudor and Stuart fashion is influencing still. The Autumn/Winter Alexander McQueen collection and the increasing use of gemstones as cuffs, brooches and adornments like hairbands make interesting and increasingly fashionable options to the usual rings, bracelets and necklaces this season.
