Delicate Necklace With Diamonds & Natural Pearls in Gold & Platinum, c. 1905

"Under the striped awning a continuous stream of black cloaks and splendid gowns flowed into the house. There, stripped of capes and cloaks, the owners of said wardrobe flashed in costly clothing and gleaming jewels. Diamonds sparkled everywhere. On snow-white shirts and full busts, on powdered necks, bare arms and ungloved fingers. They crowned the ebony hair of stately matrons and sparkled among the curly and braided hair of young women. They shone on straps and necklines of dresses and wound snakelike around round wrists..." (Translated from the serialized novel, The Countess Pharamond, London Society, April 1892, p. 336.) The Belle Époque, the years between the outgoing 19th century and the beginning of World War I, elevated the non-colour white to the pinnacle of jewellery. One style in particular was chosen for the effective presentation of diamonds and pearls: the Garland Style. Its motifs - bows, laurel leaves and the eponymous garlands - were borrowed from the late 18th century, the last years of the Ancien Regime. Now people were no longer afraid to reference this period; the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie, which had become highly prosperous through industrialization, both used the implied comparison to represent themselves. The present necklace can also be located in this period of grand balls and glittering parties in the early electric light. It combines the above-mentioned characteristics in an exemplary manner in a design that would be hard to beat in terms of lightness and elegance. The finest knife wires, shimmering garlands of pearls and a diamond-studded bow are arranged in such a way that the eye is drawn again and again to the large drop-shaped diamond in the center, which - all too appropriately - has a delicate champagne colour. 41 other diamonds set the delicate shapes, all formed in historic cuts. The necklace sets the diamonds in platinum, which occupies the front of what is actually a gold back piece. A fine platinum joins the sides. The necklace of the years shortly after 1900 is excellently preserved. We were able to discover it in England, but pieces in this style were popular in all major European cities.

Estimate:$7,838.25

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