The jewellery that came into fashion towards the close of the seventeenth century and flourished during the greater part of the eighteenth follows the style known as "rococo." Rococo ornament with its assemblage of rich fantastic scrolls and crimped conventional shellwork wrought into irregular and indescribable forms, though overcharged and inorganic, yet possesses certain beauty and artistic quality. Like most objects in this style, rococo jewellery has a real decorative charm. But the title of baroque or rococo is really less adapted to jewellery than to other art productions of the time, for jewellery itself never indulged in the same extravagant use of this form of ornament. Except for slight changes in design, eighteenth-century jewellery, as far as its general form is concerned, does not at first display any marked variation from that of the previous century. A charming but somewhat superficial sentimentality expressed by means of pastoral subjects results in ornaments on which tokens of friendship are represented in all manner of forms. The naturalistic tendency in ornament is still strong, but is less striking than it was before, since feather, ribbon, and other conventional designs make their appearance, mingled with flowers and leaves. These rococo jewels, on account of the setting and arrangement of the precious stones which entirely govern their composition, are in their way masterpieces both technically and artistically. Unlike the earlier jewels, one cannot help regarding them rather more as accessories to costume than as independent works of art. The general character of the jewellery of the period with which we are now dealing may best be judged by a notable series of original designs in colour for such objects executed by the Santini family of Florence, and now preserved in the Library of the Victoria and Albert Museum. This remarkable collection comprises upwards of 382 separate designs, which are mostly constructed in a manner best calculated to show off the brilliant character and size of the stones and pearls, on which their effect mainly depends. A large proportion of the drawings take the form of what at this period constituted a parure, or set of jewels, composed of three items of similar design--a bow-shaped breast ornament hung with a cross, and a pair of earrings _en suite_. In place of the breast ornament is sometimes a V-shaped corsage in imitation of hooks and eyes or braidwork, set with various precious stones. The whole work shows that in the eighteenth century the stone cutter and stone setter had practically supplanted the artist in precious metals. In the metal-work of the settings--in most cases a matter of minor consideration--gold is employed for coloured stones and silver for diamonds.