When you are examining a gold piece of Art Nouveau jewelry the quality of sculpturing is of utmost importance. The sculpturing should be expressive and finely detailed. The jewelers of Art Nouveau period had a unique ability to shade and blend enamel, which is almost impossible to duplicate today. Enameled Art Nouveau jewelry is fragile and easily damaged. Due to the delicate nature of Art Nouveau enameled jewelry pieces it was fairly easy to damage enamel while wearing them.
Damaged enamel reduces the value of the jewelry piece.
A small damage could be overlooked, while large damage is unacceptable. It is difficult to restore damaged enamel and poor restoration is not acceptable. The gemstones commonly used in Art Nouveau pieces were opals, moonstones, small diamonds, semi-precious colored stones and pearls. Gemstones were used to highlight the design of Art Nouveau jewelry. Jewelry Central .