Hollywood glamour had a profound effect on jewelry trends in the 1940’s as large, highly polished gold pieces with brightly colored stones took center stage. WWII called for the conservation of platinum for use in war materials forcing jewelers to begin using palladium instead. With gold also being conserved for the war effort, copper was added to available gold to create a new allow that appeared more red or pink than traditional yellow gold alloys. Older pieces were often melted down and repurposed using thinner sheets of metal during this time. Ballerinas, birds, lions, tigers, and panthers were all popular choices for brooch designs and large colorful cocktail rings were the trend of the day. Charm bracelets could be found on the wrists of most women with charms ranging from souvenir tourist pieces to household items and animals. Bracelets were large and bold and complimentary suites of jewelry eased the task of finding the perfect earrings to match a brooch or dress clips.