Belle Epoque diamond and pearl brooch pendant with big natural saltwater pearls

Every glance of this exhilarating Belle Époque brooch with 77 old European brilliant and single brilliant cut diamonds encrusted in platinum with a 14K yellow gold back fills your heart with euphoria worth a lifetime. Shooting from the superb natural saltwater pearl with a three folded diamond coronary, two diamond-encrusted maple leaves swirl like firework through the air. Furthermore, these are garmented by a diamond garland, which suspends a grand natural pear shaped saltwater pearl clinched by three twined leaflets. As icing on the cake, with this brooch comes the certified guarantee that the two pearls are truly natural, which makes this extraordinary jewel even more of a rarity.

We are very proud to have this brooch in our collection. Although the brooch is a stunner by itself, the pearl hanging from the bottom is a once-in-a-life-time pearl to be found. Through the ages, big pear shaped pearls in this quality are a rarity and were worn mostly by royalty and the higher nobility.

Because of their rarity and the scarcity of new big natural saltwater pearls coming into the market, prices are climbing year after year. Already in March 2013, at the US auction house Skinner in Boston a pendant featuring a big natural saltwater pear shaped pearl (and two big diamonds) was sold for almost $ 96,000 (hammer price $ 78,000 + 23% commission).

Antique jewelry object group: brooch/pendant

Condition: excellent condition
  -  (more info on our condition scale)

Country of origin: unknown

Style: Belle Époque - The Belle Époque (French for "Beautiful Era") was a period in European social history that began during the late 19th century and lasted until World War I. Occurring during the time of the French Third Republic and the German Empire, the "Belle Époque" was named in retrospect, when it began to be considered a "golden age" the major powers of Europe, new technologies improved lives and the commercial arts adapted Renaissance and eighteenth-century styles to modern forms. In the newly rich United States, emerging from the Panic of 1873, the comparable epoch was dubbed the Gilded Age. In the United Kingdom, this epoch overlaps the end of what is called the Victorian Era there and the period named the Edwardian Era. or more info on styles

Style specifics: The Belle Époque (French for "Beautiful Era") was a period in European social history that began during the late 19th century from the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) and lasted until World War I (1914-18).

Occurring during the time of the French Third Republic and the German Empire, the "Belle Époque" was named in retrospect, when it began to be considered a "golden age" the major powers of Europe, new technologies improved lives and the commercial arts adapted Renaissance and eighteenth-century styles to modern forms.

In the newly rich United States, emerging from the Panic of 1873, the comparable epoch was dubbed the Gilded Age. In the United Kingdom, this epoch overlaps the end of what is called the Victorian Era there and the period named the Edwardian Era.

In the Belle Époque cheap coal and cheap labour contributed to the cult of the orchid and made possible the perfection of fruits grown under glass, as the apparatus of state dinners extended to the upper classes; champagne was perfected during the Belle Époque. Exotic feathers and furs were more prominently featured in fashion than ever before, as haute couture was invented in Paris, the centre of the Belle Époque, where fashion began to move in a yearly cycle; in Paris restaurants such as Maxim's achieved a new splendour and cachet as places for the rich to parade, and the Opéra Garnier devoted enormous spaces to staircases as similar show places.

After mid-century, railways linked all the major cities of Europe to spa towns like Biarritz and Deauville; their carriages were rigorously divided into first-class and second-class, but the super-rich now began to commission private railway coaches, as exclusivity was a hallmark of opulent luxury. Bohemian lifestyles gained a different glamour, pursued in the cabarets of Montmartre.

Period: ca. 1900
  -  (events and facts in 1900)

Material: Two tones of precious metal, the main part being 14K yellow gold and the white part is platinum.
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Diamonds: 77 old European cut and single brilliant cut diamonds (also called 8/8) with a total estimated weight of approx. 4.46 crt.
Note: All diamond weights, color grades and clarity are approximate since the stones were not removed from their mounts to preserve the integrity of the setting.

Total diamond weight: approx. 4.46 crt.

Precious stones: Two exceptional beautiful natural saltwater pearls. One button shaped pearl with the dimensions 10.10-10.14 mm width x 8.0 mm thick and one drop shaped pearl with the dimensions 8.10-9.9 mm width x 18mm height. See pictures for certificate of the pearls.
  -  (more info on precious stones)

Birthstones: Diamond is the birthstone (or month stone) for April and pearl for June.
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Hallmarks: No trace.
  -  (more info on hallmarks)

Dimensions: height 6,40 cm (2,52 inch), width 5,40 cm (2,13 inch)

Weight: 21,10 gram (13,57 dwt)

Reference Nº: 15083-0013

Copyright photography: Adin, fine antique jewelry

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