Vintage French romantic Belle Epoque diamond and pearl earrings with ivy motive

Antique jewelry object group
  -  earrings

Condition
  -  very good condition
  -  more info on our condition scale

Country of origin
  -  France

Style
  -   something between the Late-Victorian and Belle Epoque style - Victorian decorative arts refers to the style of decorative arts during the Victorian era. The Victorian era is known for its eclectic revival and interpretation of historic styles and the introduction of cross-cultural influences from the middle east and Asia in furniture, fittings, and Interior decoration.

Victorian design is widely viewed as having indulged in a regrettable excess of ornament.

And the Belle Époque style (Belle Époque is 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.
  -  See also: late-Victorian
  -  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 & facts of this era, poetry of this era, fashion of this era)

Source of inspiration
  -   Mother Nature (see also: flower symbolism)

Theme
  -   Ivy - Ivy is a plant with great symbolism. With its evergreen leaves, it symbolizes immortality. But it also symbolizes death as it kills trees by eating their juices.

But ivy has also a romantic facet: The vitality of the plant represents stealthy joy of living. The romantic facet of ivy is based upon its tendrils which attach to a wall affectionately. In French they say 'Je m'attache ou je meurs' (I hold on or I die)!

At weddings in Greece they used to give an ivy garland for the young couple as a sign of 'everlasting love and fidelity' .

Material
  -   Two tones of precious metal, the main part being 18K yellow gold and the white parts are either white gold or platinum. (touchstone tested)
  -  (more info on precious metals)

Diamonds
  -  Four rose cut diamonds and senailles . A senaille is a simplified rose cut diamond, a small diamond chip with perhaps a few polished facets. We do not have the weight of the rose cuts diamonds nor the senailles which is normal in our trade when it comes to rose cut diamonds and senailles.
  -  All diamonds we offer are screened by the IJGC (www.ijgc-worldwide.com) for whether they are natural or synthetic, and all diamonds in this jewel are 100% guaranteed to be natural.

Precious stones
  -  Two natural half seed pearls

Birthstones
  -   Diamond is the birthstone (or month stone) for April
  -   and pearl for June.

Hallmarks
  -   The French control mark for 18K gold representing a horse's head that was in use in France from about 1838.
  -  more info on hallmarks

Dimensions
  -  width 1,04 cm (0,41 inch)
  -  see picture with a ruler in cm and inches

Weight
  -  2,00 gram (1,29 dwt)

Adin Reference Nº
  -  21120-0398

Copyright photography
  -  Adin, fine antique jewellery

jewelry with ivy motif, all floral jewelry, all love token jewelry, platinum jewelry, bi-color jewelry, jewelry with rose cut diamonds, jewelry with pearls, latest acquisitions,
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