Jewellery and war

When the jewellery editor of Vogue wrote about the link between jewellery and war it’s not perhaps what you’d expect to read in a fashion magazine, albeit a high-brow one. But journalist Carol Woolton investigated the links between jewellery and war and unearthed stories from the Russian Revolution to September 11.
 

Jewellery in times of war

Jewellery is probably the last thing you think would have any importance during times of war, but precious jewellery is more than decorous ornaments. Wars have, reported Woolton, been financed for centuries by the sale of jewellery. Crown jewels and gemstones have funded revolutions. According to the ornate jewellery designer Faberge, his business was brisk during the Russian Revolution. And Woolton reports that a modern-day jeweller, Stephen Webster, saw sales of his jewellery increase by 200 percent in America since September 11.
 

Jewellery – a transportable financial asset

Jewellery can be an enormous financial asset and as such can also be used for political purposes. In 1580 a diamond was used as collateral to pledge more troops to Henry III of France. The same diamond was used and sold to fund more wars, including Charles I campaign against the Royalists in the 1600s. Jewellery, especially diamond jewellery seems to be closely linked to war. The recent Leonardo DeCaprio film, Blood Diamond, shows how diamond smuggling and war collide. In the Congo and Sierra Leone, what have been dubbed ‘conflict diamonds’ finance battles and in Angola precious stones are mined to pay for guns.
 

Jewellery funding war

Mussolini asked the women of Italy to donate their jewellery to fund his war, and the Prussian royal family appealed to its citizens to give their gold and jewellery to the war effort against Napoleon. Jewellery not only contains wealth, but jewellery is an easy way of transporting wealth. It can be easy to hide small but valuable jewellery, and Woolton states that the demand for jewellery in unstable regimes is due to the fact it is transportable and its value doesn’t depend on the fluctuations of the currency markets. Investing in gold, silver, precious stones and jewellery has a value beyond borders.
 

Jewellery – a portable capital

According to Woolton, many Jewish refuges fled with their jewellery sewn into their clothes, allowing them to start a new life. It was said that in 1925 the jewellery market was flooded with gems sold by Russian emigrants.

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