Elegant Necklace with 1.75 Ct Diamonds, Probably from the Ottoman

This unusual necklace straddles two worlds as if it were the most natural thing in the world. On the one hand, it draws on the dynamic design language of European Art Nouveau, which spread c. 1900 from Paris and Brussels through Vienna to the major cities of the eastern Mediterranean: But rather than simply copying these floral lines, the unknown goldsmith has translated them into a uniquely oriental-inspired form of jewellery. This is because the necklace was most likely created in what was then the Ottoman Empire. At its center is a horizontally oriented, symmetrically structured ornament. Its horizontal body traces a gently curving line set with diamonds. At both ends, this line curls upward and downward into bold, volute-like loops. The large, open inner shapes are reminiscent of both plant tendrils and stylized palmettes, motifs that had a long tradition in both European art c. 1900 and Ottoman decorative art. From this horizontal base, five slender struts rise upward like the prongs of a small tiara. Their staggered arrangement gives the upper part of the piece a crown-like silhouette: the three central struts end in larger, round-set diamonds, while smaller stones accentuate the transitions. The design draws less on naturalistic plant ornamentation than on an interplay between lines and circular forms. This principle is even more pronounced in the lower section. Two asymmetrical pendants of differing lengths hang freely from the centerpiece, much like a lavaliere originating in Central Europe. Small, circular diamond settings rhythmically punctuate the delicate rods before each ends in a larger round setting. This lends the otherwise strictly axial composition a playful and dynamic quality. The material is also noteworthy. While the major European jewellery houses of the Belle Époque typically crafted diamond jewellery of this type in platinum set on gold, this necklace is made of silver. However, this should be understood as a simpler variation on a European model. Rather, it points to a different goldsmithing tradition, in which silver was naturally used even for intricately crafted and richly set jewellery with diamonds. The necklace is set with 13 Old Mine Cut diamonds and 13 rose cut diamonds, totaling approximately 1.75 ct. The larger old-cut diamonds serve as the composition’s luminous focal points, while the flatter rose-cut diamonds accompany the curved lines with a more delicate, shimmering luster. Unlike the perfectly uniform brilliant-cut jewelry of later decades, a piece like this thrives on the individual character of each hand-cut, slightly cushion-shaped stone. The necklace is a testament to the cultural exchange c. 1900. Istanbul and the other major cities of the Ottoman Empire were by no means isolated from the European art scene; European fashions, goods, and design ideas circulated here just as much as Ottoman forms, which in turn had been influencing European art for decades. In this piece of jewellery, the curved lines of Art Nouveau thus meet an older preference for symmetry, palmettes, volutes, and flowing pendants. The result is not European Art Nouveau in an Oriental guise, but rather an independent interpretation of modernism—a piece of jewellery straddling the threshold between Ottoman tradition and the new international style of the early 20th century.

Estimate:$3,686.31

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