Glamorous Art Déco Brooch with Diamonds & Sapphires, c. 1930

"The new woman" was the ideal of the 1920s and early 1930s. The new woman had won the right to vote, she was self-confident in professional and romantic matters, even part of the nightlife of the Weimar Republic - things that seemed unimaginable barely a decade and a half earlier. Articles in influential German fashion journals such as "Die Dame" bear witness to the fact that a new self-image could also be translated into aesthetics, indeed, that it virtually necessitated a new aesthetic. The women portrayed there wore bobbed heads and strikingly made-up lips, loosely cut dresses - and yet the most influential among them were not simply style icons, but were active as authors and artists. It goes without saying that the floral and playful jewellery of the Belle Époque was reminiscent of the time before the war, of a different social order. The jewellery of the new woman consciously set itself apart from this: Clear-lined and geometric, it deliberately eschewed anything sweet. It was a linear, often emphatically austere elegance that characterized the most modern pieces of jewellery of the time. One such modern piece of jewellery is this brooch - or, as it was called in its day, a broochette. Narrow and horizontally oriented, it may be reminiscent of the bar pins of previous decades, but it is now wide enough to offer space for contemporary geometric decorations. Exquisitely executed saw work and milgrains structure the piece of jewellery, which is crafted in platinum on white gold, typical of the time. Two bands of calibrated dark blue sapphires add dark accents to the white diamonds. In contrast, the light from the diamonds appears even brighter and more brilliant. In total, over one carat of diamonds have been set in historical cuts. The brooch is in very good condition. It has survived the last century undamaged.

Estimate:$3,249.93

View all items fromHofer AntikschmuckorJewelry & Gems