Antique jewelry in literature: 17th Century Antique Portuguese Pendant
Antique Portuguese sequilé style pendant featuring 33 rose cut and senaille diamonds held in a foiled gold setting. The gold openwork surround features a sinuously scrolling foliate design in a lozenge shape traditional for sequilé-style jewellery and features five teardrop-shaped pendants, balancing the intricate design. The bigger diamonds are rose cut and the smaller diamonds are senaille cut. According to the experts of the Victoria & Albert Museum, it is characteristic of Iberian gold jewellery at this date that the gold settings nearly enclose the smaller diamonds. Pictures of similar pendants can be found in "A Sparkling Age: 17th Century Diamond Jewellery” p. 215 - by the Diamond Museum in Antwerp - published in 1993 and in "Five Centuries of Jewellery" p. 45 - by The National Museum of Ancient Art, Lisbon - published in 1995.