CARTIER Beautiful set in gold 750 and platinum 850 thousandths consisting of a n…
Description

CARTIER

Beautiful set in gold 750 and platinum 850 thousandths consisting of a numbered articulated necklace comprising 4 rows of stylized links, decorated with 2 motifs of flowers punctuated with cabochons of turquoise, holding 11 pampilles dressed with fine pearls mounted in clusters and gold beads filigree, and a pair of earrings to the same, one signed. The set enhanced with cabochons and pearls of ruby and emerald, some on pearl, enamel and small diamonds. A pair of wedding bracelets with polychrome enamel decoration of flowers and enhanced with faceted roses, adorned with heads of elephants facing, their necklaces and their eyes adorned with rubies. Opening by reversed screw. Indian work of the late nineteenth-early twentieth century (missing enamel, restorations, small accidents for the bracelets). The set is preserved in a leather case of the house Cartier. Work of the late 1940s, early 1941. L of the Cartier necklace: 33.5 cm - Gross weight: 183.70 g H of the Cartier earrings: 7 cm - Gross weight: 40.10 g Inside dimensions of the Indian bracelet 1: 5,4 x 4,7 cm - Gross weight: 109,10 g Inside dimensions of the Indian bracelet 2: 5,5 x 5 cm - Gross weight: 108,20 g Exempted : art. 524 bis al.c. for the two bracelets. This set is accompanied by an expertise n°XP1239-190423 of IAJA expertise of April 19, 2023. Cartier's relationship with India is long and fruitful. As early as 1901, the year following the jeweler's installation at the mythical address of 13 rue de la Paix, Pierre Cartier was called to the court of London to transform certain Indian crown jewels that were too heavy or too masculine and allow Queen Alexandra to wear them at her ease. From this transformation was born an Indian-style necklace made of 71 pearls and 12 cabochon rubies that the queen often wore. In addition to the British royal crown, Cartier counts among its best customers some very rich maharajas. Sovereigns of small vassal states of the British crown, they liked to travel to Europe, officially for diplomatic reasons, unofficially to taste the pleasures offered by the European capitals. They have always been familiar with jewelry and wear exceptional diamonds from the mines of Golconde, sapphires from Kashmir with extraordinary colors and spinels from Badakhshan in extravagant sets. They add rubies from Burma and Ceylon and emeralds engraved with stones and floral designs once imported from Colombia. Thanks to these wealthy customers, Cartier's trade with India quickly became considerable. Eager to promote traditional Indian jewelry, Cartier organized exhibitions in London, Paris, Boston and New York from 1912. These events illustrate Cartier's desire to make Indian culture known, but also to disseminate to his European clientele the exotic shapes and motifs that would soon be used in the ornamentation of the jewelry he offered for sale. For if the maharajas commissioned Cartier to make ornaments and frames, Cartier was in turn inspired by Indian aesthetics, as a Vogue columnist wrote in 1922: "As for the art of jewelry, it has become one of the most perfect, most delicate of our time. It deserves special attention because, apart from the Italian Renaissance, I can only see the Hindu jewel of a beauty that touches the miracle, but as it was not possible for many women to possess these inlaid rings and enamels of Jeypore (sic) (...) our great jewelers have reproduced them to perfection". Interest in India increased even more in 1933 when Jeanne Toussaint took over the reins of fine jewelry at Cartier. Under her influence, a change took place in the manufacture of Indian-style pieces. While in the previous decade, Cartier was inspired by Indian shapes and designs to create jewelry, by the mid-1930s, actual jewelry and artifacts imported from the subcontinent were modified, integrated or mixed with strictly European elements to make the pieces. This evolution of style coincided with the fashion of the time which saw, for example, Harper's Bazaar magazine describe in its February 1934 issue how Daisy Fellowes wore an antique Indian necklace made of rubies and emeralds imported from India by Cartier or Vogue illustrate, in 1938, the jewels brought back from India by Lady Mendl, Coco Chanel or Jeanne Toussaint herself. The set presented here fits perfectly into this category of mixed jewelry created by Cartier from traditional Indian elements. It is made of two Indian bracelets without any modification from Cartier except the fastening system, but also of earrings.

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CARTIER

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