Give Women the Vote. Green for hope, white for purity, violet for dignity — and, conveniently, the first letters gave supporters of the British suffrage movement their own quiet code: G W V. Jewelry in these colors became one of the most enduring symbols associated with the movement, allowing a woman to wear her sympathies beautifully and, sometimes, discreetly. Earlier pieces typically paired peridot or emerald with pearls and amethyst. But as the nineteen-teens gave way to the nineteen-twenties, the palette began to change. Rubies and pink-red stones increasingly appeared in place of violet, their stronger color better suited to the brighter fashions of the new decade — and perhaps to a movement that had changed as well. The vote had been won for land owning British women in 1918; but it wasn't until 1928 that it would belong to women on equal terms with men. This necklace feels wonderfully caught between those worlds: delicate and unmistakably Edwardian in construction, but already stepping toward the color and freedom of the roaring twenties and the straighter lines of the Art Deco movement.

Handcrafted in England in about 1920, this necklace is made in 15 karat gold and set with vivid green peridot, bright pink ruby and creamy white natural pearl. The graceful festoon design measures 17 inches around the neck, with fine chains suspending its articulated central drop. It weighs 6.1 grams. There are no hallmarks; the gold has been acid tested as 15 karat.

It is jewelry as beauty, jewelry as language, and jewelry as a small piece of women's history. More than a century later, the colors still say it beautifully: Give Women the Vote.