Beads and Jewelry in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

There are 20 photos on this page. It may take a while to load them all. I wanted to retain as much of the original detail as possible.

You will see wonderful jewelry and beads from as early as 700 BC up to about the 1930s.

These pieces are priceless. You may have already seen photos of them in other publications.

Anyone can photograph in the museum. So if you get a chance to go there take your camera. The lighting is very good for photos.

The oldest pieces are the 18kt gold cast, stamped, and rolled pieces which date from the 7th to the 3rd century BC. There is a lovely carnelian pendant that has lost none of its appeal even though it is more than 2000 years old. The most recent pieces are the costume necklaces and some of the art nouveau-ish enamel jewelry from the 1930s.

These photos should bring home the fact that the beads you purchase, especially gemstone beads, will last several lifetimes!

The V & A is one of the best museums we have ever visited. Everyone who works or volunteers there treats visitors well. It's almost "homey". The staff volunteers have set up a small coffee bar in the front hall with home made baked goods. This in spite of the fact that the V & A is one of the world's greatest museums and they could choose to be pretentious but they decided to be welcoming instead. I wish I were there now. When we were there it was blissfully quiet.