Art jewelry is created with a variety of materials, not just precious metals and gems. In the late 19th century, René Lalique revolutionized jewelry development through his emphasis on imagination and technical virtuosity over precious material and the imitation of past styles. Furthermore, he experimented with commercial approaches, plastic and glass. Art jewelry really should be compared to expressions of art in other medias such as glass, wood, plastics and clay. Art jewelry however has not yet created a substantial following and is a reasonably small specialized niche, where jewelry is mostly obtained by collectors and museums.

Although many consider art jewelry still a part of the crafts as opposed to the real "Arts" (with its appropriate art critics) things are transforming considerably, in particular in Germany. In the 1960s and 1970s the German Government and the commercial jewelry industry made the decision to foster and heavily support contemporary jewelry designers, and thus created a new marketplace. They focused in particular on combining current design with their goldsmithing tradition of jewelry creation. At present art jewelry is no longer a niche market. There has been a notable rise in independent boutique stores stocking and specializing in unique art jewelry pieces. Facere Jewelry and Art, based in Seattle, Washington is one of the more notable examples.

An instance of current trends in art jewelry is the use of synthetic components such as polypropylene, nylon and acrylic. Art jewelers have developed techniques for using these materials to dramatic effect. One example of this is award winning jeweler Gill Forsbrook, a designer working in the UK. Further notable producers and artists include Hermann Jünger, Swiss-born Pierre Degen, Caroline Broadhead, Naomi Filmer, Otto Kuenzli and Florian Ladstaetter. Fashion labels such as Bless, Martin Margiela, Comme des Garcons, etc. have had a powerful reference and input in the field of contemporary jewelry.

The acceptance of jewelry as art was fostered in the United States very quickly after World War II by significant museums such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, each of which held massive shows of art jewelry in the 1940s. The Museum of Arts and Design formerly The American Craft Museum, started off their collection in 1958 with pieces dating from the 1940s. Other museums whose collections include work by contemporary (American) jewelry designers include: the Cleveland Museum of Art, The Corning Museum of Glass, the Mint Museum of Craft & Design in Charlotte, NC, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian museum.

A few of the renowned artists who created art jewelry in the past were Calder, Picasso, Man Ray, Meret Oppenheim, Dalí and Nevelson. Some of which represented at Sculpture to Wear Gallery in New York City which closed in 1977.

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Unique Engagement Rings