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Auction archive: Lot number 551

A SUPERB ANTIQUE EMERALD AND DIAMOND NECKLACE, BY TIFFANY & CO.

Auction 23.10.1996
23 Oct 1996 - 24 Oct 1996
Estimate
US$150,000 - US$200,000
Price realised:
US$387,500
Auction archive: Lot number 551

A SUPERB ANTIQUE EMERALD AND DIAMOND NECKLACE, BY TIFFANY & CO.

Auction 23.10.1996
23 Oct 1996 - 24 Oct 1996
Estimate
US$150,000 - US$200,000
Price realised:
US$387,500
Beschreibung:

A SUPERB ANTIQUE EMERALD AND DIAMOND NECKLACE, BY TIFFANY & CO. Set with thirteen graduated circular-cut emeralds, each surrounded by old mine and old European-cut diamonds, alternating with old mine and old European-cut diamond fleur-de-lis links, mounted in gold, circa 1890-- 15¼ ins. long Signed by Tiffany & Co. In the latter part of the nineteenth century, Charles L. Tiffany was dubbed the "King of Diamonds" in large measure due to Tiffany & Co.'s participation in the sale of the French Crown jewels in 1887. These jewels were part of the jewelry that Empress Eugénie was forced to leave behind when she fled Paris in 1870. Tiffany's bought twenty-four lots for $480,000, a sum greater than the combined purchases of the next nine bidders. After the sale, Tiffany's offered these jewels either in their original mountings or reset the gemstones in more modern designs. Some pieces were acquired by such prominent society figures as the Astors, the Stanfords and the Pulitzers while some of the stones became part of the Tiffany exhibit in the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris where the firm received a gold medal for its display. For an illustration of a brooch which had originally been part of Empress Eugénie's "Great Girdle", see A. Kenneth Snowman, ed. The Master Jewelers , London, 1990, page 178. The quality of the emeralds and diamonds in the illustrated necklace may indicate that these gemstones were once part of this illustrious collection. The design may support this supposition; fleur-de-lis are an emblem of the French monarchy. Perhaps this motif was chosen as a tribute to its origins. Whatever its lineage, this necklace is a superb example of the jewelry Tiffany & Co. offered at the end of the nineteenth century at a time when the firm, its designers and the head of the company were receiving awards at international expositions for their innovative jewelry designs. Janet Zapata

Auction archive: Lot number 551
Auction:
Datum:
23 Oct 1996 - 24 Oct 1996
Auction house:
Christie's
New York, Park Avenue
Beschreibung:

A SUPERB ANTIQUE EMERALD AND DIAMOND NECKLACE, BY TIFFANY & CO. Set with thirteen graduated circular-cut emeralds, each surrounded by old mine and old European-cut diamonds, alternating with old mine and old European-cut diamond fleur-de-lis links, mounted in gold, circa 1890-- 15¼ ins. long Signed by Tiffany & Co. In the latter part of the nineteenth century, Charles L. Tiffany was dubbed the "King of Diamonds" in large measure due to Tiffany & Co.'s participation in the sale of the French Crown jewels in 1887. These jewels were part of the jewelry that Empress Eugénie was forced to leave behind when she fled Paris in 1870. Tiffany's bought twenty-four lots for $480,000, a sum greater than the combined purchases of the next nine bidders. After the sale, Tiffany's offered these jewels either in their original mountings or reset the gemstones in more modern designs. Some pieces were acquired by such prominent society figures as the Astors, the Stanfords and the Pulitzers while some of the stones became part of the Tiffany exhibit in the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris where the firm received a gold medal for its display. For an illustration of a brooch which had originally been part of Empress Eugénie's "Great Girdle", see A. Kenneth Snowman, ed. The Master Jewelers , London, 1990, page 178. The quality of the emeralds and diamonds in the illustrated necklace may indicate that these gemstones were once part of this illustrious collection. The design may support this supposition; fleur-de-lis are an emblem of the French monarchy. Perhaps this motif was chosen as a tribute to its origins. Whatever its lineage, this necklace is a superb example of the jewelry Tiffany & Co. offered at the end of the nineteenth century at a time when the firm, its designers and the head of the company were receiving awards at international expositions for their innovative jewelry designs. Janet Zapata

Auction archive: Lot number 551
Auction:
Datum:
23 Oct 1996 - 24 Oct 1996
Auction house:
Christie's
New York, Park Avenue
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