Precious Antique Bracelet With Diamonds & Sapphires In Platinum On

Art historians like to organize the course of fashions into a clear series of styles. Historicism is followed by Art Nouveau, then comes Art Deco and Modernism. In reality, however, things are often not so simple. Because there are always overlaps, different fashions exist at the same time or even mix. This is exactly the case with this bracelet. The basic shape of the bracelet, which gently widens towards the front, first appeared in the early years after 1900 and is typical of the Belle Époque period. The playful, romantic ornaments, the floral curves, sawn joints, diamonds set in delicate bezels adorned with milgrains and matching sapphires were all developed before the First World War. In total, more than five carats of diamonds are set here. The large stones are certainly older than the bracelet itself and were cut in the 19th century. Some of the stones are clearly tinted yellow: an attractive contrast to the blue of the sapphires. And yet there is something new about the design. The sapphire bands do not run parallel to the outer lines of the design, as is usually the case. Instead, they lie at right angles to the ornaments and form energetic, powerful arrows, developed from a completely different, more angular geometry. In these places, the ribbon seems very modern - and a foretaste of the Art Deco style to come. We therefore think that the ribbon was created in the years around 1920, at the transition to Art Déco. In fact, when we leaf through antique jeweller's catalogs from the 1920s, we often find pieces of jewellery that are still full of verve and committed to the magnificent forms of the Belle Époque. But we don't find them in fashion magazines from the same period! However, as this volume shows, it is precisely these nuances, the combination of different design elements, that make an antique piece of jewellery so appealing. We discovered the piece here in Berlin. It is accompanied by an independent expert appraisal from Vienna on the quality of the materials.

Estimate:$28,984.87

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