Coulant De Sautoir In The Form Of A Dragon Made Of Gold With Diamonds

"In brooches, dragon shapes are frequently met with. One, for instance, exhibits a dragon whose body is inside of a ring. The dragon seizes the ring so that its head reaches over it, the spread wings likewise protruding a little. ... The tail disappears behind a little blossom which develops from a branch of the ring at the right, while at the left of the ring a narrow leaf is seen and a ball below. The dragon's eye consists of a reddish stone and the body displays a number of false brilliants." This is how the correspondent of Jeweler's Circular described one of the latest Parisian jewellery fashions in the summer of 1899 - and you almost think he is describing the dragon here! Except that the clip for scarves or necklaces, a so-called "coulant de sautoir", is made of high-carat gold and set with real diamonds. There is a double clip on the back, which can be used to attach it to a long, sturdy chain, for example. However, the red gemstone in the dragon's mouth is not a real gemstone. It is a garnet-glass doublet in the colour of ruby, which is unusual today but was widely used at the time. A wafer-thin slice of garnet is stuck to a body of red glass, and the two are then faceted together. The result is a gemstone that has a high refraction due to the garnet and therefore sparkles much richer than glass. The surface is also harder and better protected against scratches. This type of elaborately produced artificial stone can be seen again and again in jewellery from the c. 1900's. A few years later, after the invention of corundum synthesis by Auguste Verneuil, it fell out of fashion again. According to the hallmark, this piece of jewellery from the c. 1900s was made in France. We discovered the dragon in Geneva. The quotation from [Anon.], "Latest Fashions in Paris", The Jewelers' Circular, July 26, 1899, pp. 7-8.

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