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All That Glitters

Investigating hierarchies of preciousness and beauty in gem and jewellery collections.

Project duration: 2025–2028
Principal investigator: Dr Tehmina Goskar
Funding: AHRC Catalyst award (£207,000)
Partnership: University of Oxford

All That Glitters investigates concepts of value and value chains evidenced in gem and jewellery museum collections. The topics are investigated through the lenses of earth sciences and design, decolonialities, life cycle, alongside critiques of ethics and sustainability.

A pearl bracelet worn by a female wearing black jumper
Keshi Gel Pearl bracelet, Saravich Sungtrakankul, CSM Museum & Study Collection, UAL

Project context

Jewellery and gems represent a complex network of (mainly undocumented) cultural values informed by:

  • relative perceptions of material beauty
  • attitudes to wealth investment
  • personal and group ethics, particularly when it comes to sustainability.

Museum interpretation and catalogues of jewellery repeat tired old tropes which assume and prioritise the documentation of financial worth and status over cultural value. Consequently, histories of personal adornment and ornament tend to be dominated by Eurocentric and anachronistic narratives based on outdated classification systems.

Academic discussion has been hindered by disciplinary silos between geology, design history and technology. Furthermore, a deep divide persists between academia and the jewellery industry.

Research aims

  • Demonstrate the academic and social potential of gem and jewellery collections.
  • Contribute to vital contemporary debates about the ethics of extraction, consumption, sustainability and environmental claims.
  • Acknowledge indigenous, diasporic and alternative knowledges and beliefs.

Research outcomes

All That Glitters is developing a new transdisciplinary object-led and people-centred methodology through the research and documentation of 100 objects and specimens, a selection representing diverse designs, techniques, materials and people.

The project focuses on 2 complementary but under-utilised collections governed by very different disciplinary frameworks:

  • UAL Central Saint Martins Museum and Study Collection – jewellery design focus
  • Oxford University Museum of Natural History (OUMNH) – gemmological focus.

The methodology design aims to shift focus away from owners, donors and collectors. Instead, it will highlight the hidden value creators: extractors, designers, makers, and appraisers.

A box with museum ring item and note classification
Ancient wish ring, Serpentine, Oxford University Museum of Natural History.

Benefits for jewellery and gem collections

  • Improve the quality of documentation.
  • Involve more people in collection creation.
  • Create better public engagement on topics like ethical consumption and greenwashing.
  • Contributing to discussions about cultural meaning and sustainability from diverse global perspectives.

For the gemmological and jewellery trade perspective our findings may provide a wider set of factors against which appraisal and valuation may take place in a truly international market.

Project co-leads