Catalog: Estate Jewelry (1645)

A fine pair of heavy 18K yellow gold cufflinks in the “horsebit” (“mors de filet”) style. The visible surfaces are covered in rich dark green translucent enamel overlaid with a yellow gold ropetwist motif. When being worn, only the enameled discs are visible. Each cufflink is marked “France/18K”.

Origin: France, ca. 1980. Condition: excellent, one cufflink has a superficial enamel nick visible only under 10x magnification. Weight: 13.5 grams.

A very handsome pair of 14K yellow gold cufflinks in a strongly linear, architectural style. The faces are set at one end with iolites cut as sugarloaf cabochons and at the other with bluish-violet chalcedonies cut as triangular cabochons. The use of transparent, intense bluish-violet iolites with softer translucent chalcedonies in the same color family is an inspired choice and really sets these cufflinks apart. The faces are connected by solid bridges to hinged backs. Tested and guaranteed 14K.

Ca. 1980. Condition: excellent, all original. Size: 7/8" x 1/2". Weight: 16.7 grams. Approximate Total Gemstone Weight: iolite, .38 carat; chalcedony 1.14 carats.

A lovely Art Nouveau pendant worked in silver and 10K yellow gold. The pendant consists of an openwork triangular silver plaque with a pair of plique-a-jour enameled mistletoe leaves below a band of opals and above a band of brilliant green moldavites, themselves over a square-cut pink tourmaline suspending a semi-baroque pearl drop. The whole is suspended from a round brilliant cut pink tourmaline set in gold. The combination of colored gemstones is lovely and nicely accents the enamel. The opals have a particularly nice play of color in tones of blue and reddish-orange. The overall design strongly suggests the work of the Pforzheim studios in Germany, but the “Sterling” markings on the back indicate an American origin.

Ca. 1900. Condition: excellent; no enamel damage. Size: 1-5/16” x 2” (to top of bale). Approximate Total Gemstone Weight: tourmaline, .96 ct; opal, .33 ct; moldavite, .20 ct. Weight: 4.4 grams.

A very handsome pair of Victorian cufflinks, the faces fashioned from carved bloodstone discs centered with gold fox’s heads. The bloodstone, carved with a concave surface, is finely colored in a strong green with noticeable red flecks. The fox heads are beautifully detailed. The faces are connected with chains to decorative torpedo backs. Tested and guaranteed 18K.

Origin: America, ca. 1890. Condition: very good, each bloodstone disc has a small rim nick visible under magnification, but not visible during normal wear. Size: 9/16” diameter. Weight: 6.8 grams.

An elegant 5-piece dress set worked in 14K yellow gold and platinum by Carrington. The set, comprising a pair of double-sided cufflinks and three shirt studs, features round mother-of-pearl faces enclosed within engraved platinum borders and centered with small natural pearls. Both the mother-of-pearl and the pearls have very nice luster and color overtones. Each piece is hallmarked by Carrington, one of the leading American manufacturing jewelers at the turn of the 20th century.

Origin: America, ca. 1900. Condition: excellent; all original. Size: cufflink faces, 9/16” diameter; studs, 11/32” diameter.

A good pair of pre-War Mexican silver cufflinks in a traditional strapwork motif. The square faces are joined to spherical backs. The surface retains an attractive old patina. One cufflink is marked “Sterling Taxco”, thus pre-dating the eagle system of marks introduced in 1948.

Origin: Mexico, ca. 1930. Condition: excellent; old patina. Size: 5/8” x 5/8”. Weight: 10.0 grams.

A lovely French garland-style pendant/brooch in platinum and set with diamonds. The garland style, popularized by Cartier, heavily borrowed Louis XVI motifs such as bows, ribbons and laurel wreaths—all seen in this example. When worked in platinum, the designs take on a delicate appearance and allow the diamonds to shine. The center old European cut diamond, graded as J/SI1, weighs .48 carat. The diamond hanging from an articulated millegrained knife-edge mounting has the same grading and weighs .35 carat. The smaller diamonds are a mix of antique cushion, rose and Swiss cuts. This piece has two small loops at the top of the back so it can be worn from a fine platinum chain. When worn as a pendant, the 18K gold brooch fitting can be unscrewed and removed entirely. Convertible fittings such as this were difficult to make and always signaled a piece of high quality. The hallmarks allow the pendant/brooch to be definitively dated prior to 1912.

Origin: France, ca. 1910. Condition: excellent, all original. Size: 1-11/16” x 1-9/16”. Weight: 10.8 grams. Approximate Total Diamond Weight: 2.15 carats.

A handsome pair of Georg Jensen silver cufflinks in pattern #5. This was an early cufflink design be Jensen and was made with and without a gemstone in the center opening. The round faces are connected by chains to foliate torpedo backs. The cufflinks retain an old patina. The backs of the faces are stamped with the combination of Jensen and assay marks used 1915-30 and with the pattern number “5” and “Kopenhagen”.

Origin: Denmark, 1915-30. Condition: excellent; all original; old patina. Size: 3/4" diameter. Weight: 7.5 grams.

A handsome pair of heavy Edwardian double-sided cufflinks worked in 14K yellow gold and platinum. The ornately-shaped yellow gold faces are edged with beaded and stepped platinum borders and feature black enamel tracery around round old European cut diamonds. The diamonds have bright color (estimated at I) and SI1 clarity. The faces are joined by solid connectors marked “14K”.

Origin: America, ca. 1910. Condition: excellent; no enamel damage. Size: 13/16” x 9/16”. Weight: 11.7 grams. Approximate Total Diamond Weight: .40 carat.

An elegant 18K yellow gold bracelet in a modified curb link design, with alternating links set with round diamonds. Despite its substantial weight, the openness of the oval links creates a delicate appearance appropriate for daily casual wear. The added sparkle of the diamonds allows the bracelet to be worn for dressier occasions, too. The bracelet is signed “Cartier” and has the serial number “Paris 68219”.

Origin: France, ca. 1980. Condition: excellent. Size: 8-1/5” long; 5/16” wide. Weight: 19.5 grams. Approximate Total Diamond Weight: .80 carat.

A delightful Art Nouveau 18K yellow gold slide locket, the cover ornately decorated with a rooster crowing at a rose cut diamond sun. The scene is completed with farm implements in the foreground and a view of wheat field in the distance. The rooster is, of course, a national symbol of France. Though most slide lockets were made in France, this example does not have French hallmarks. Tested and guaranteed 18K.

Ca. 1900. Condition: excellent; sharp detail. Size: 1-1/8” x 1-1/4” (excluding bale and jump ring). Weight: 13.3 grams. Approximate Total Diamond Weight: .15 carat.

A beautiful pair of tiger claw earrings mounted in 18K yellow gold filigree settings. Tiger claws were popular souvenirs of visits to India, especially after Queen Victoria took the title “Empress of India” in 1876. They were sometimes set into jewelry in England or America, and sometimes in India. These earrings are mounted in the traditional Indian style of ornate filigree work. The claws hang freely from a filigree rosette surmount. The gold is tested and guaranteed to be at least 18K, and is probably closer to 20K.

Origin: India, ca. 1880. Condition: very good; the ear wires are replacements, but the rosettes are original; one claw has light surface flaking typical of natural claws on the back side. Size: 2-5/16” long from top of wires. Weight: 7.0 grams.

NOTE: This item cannot be shipped outside the United States or to the state of California.

A very pretty 14K yellow gold ring bezel-set with an oval gold quartz stone flanked by shoulders set with fused natural 24K gold nuggets. The quartz has good color and is generously streaked with gold in well-balanced pattern. Gold quartz jewelry originally became fashionable during the California gold rush and then again when gold was discovered in Alaska just before the turn of the 20th century. The shank is marked “14K” and has an illegible maker’s mark.

Origin: America, ca. 1920. Condition: excellent. Finger Size: 7-1/2. Dimensions: crown, 1/2” x 3/8”. Weight: 4.4 grams.

A superb pair of double-sided Art Deco silver cufflinks by E. Besseire & Cie. The hexagonal faces are decorated with red, green and black blocks of opaque champlevé enamels highlighted with silver shield-shaped and squiggle accents. The faces are connected bychains. The backs of each face are marked with Besseire’s maker’s mark and with assay marks for silver.

Origin: France, ca. 1930. Condition: excellent; no enamel damage (the green enamel has some porosity visible under magnification that is original to the making). Size: 17/32” diameter. Weight: 7.9 grams.

A handsome pair of 14K yellow gold cufflinks in the classic button style. Each round face is fashioned as a button, complete with gold stitches. The faces are lightly decorated with a crosshatched surface for contrast with the shiny, raised borders. The toggle backs are marked “14K”.

Origin: America, ca. 1980. Condition: excellent. Size: 3/4" diameter. Weight: 9.9 grams.

A fine and very early pair of silver cufflinks in the “Maya” pattern by Margot de Taxco. Margot established her own studio in 1948. The “Maya” pattern, displaying a strongly-featured native Mexican man in profile, became one of her iconic designs. The cufflinks are generously sized and retain a nice patina. The backs of the faces are stamped with marks used before the introduction of the eagle system in 1948, so the cufflinks can be dated to a very early date for Margot.

Origin: Mexico, ca. 1948. Condition: excellent; sharp detail. Size: 1” x 3/4”. Weight: 13.6 grams.

A heavy, beautifully-detailed 14K yellow gold brooch in the form of a pine branch complete with needles and fully three-dimensional pinecones attributed to Laykin et Cie. The workmanship of the brooch is very fine. Each spray of needles is accented with a prong-set round brilliant diamonds of fine quality (I/VS). The back is marked “14K” and has an illegible maker’s mark. We have seen this exact brooch with a clear signature for Laykin et Cie, the leading Hollywood jeweler of the mid-20th century.

Origin: America, ca. 1965. Condition: excellent; sharp detail. Size: 2-5/16” x 1-1/2”. Weight: 21.1 grams. Approximate Total Diamond Weight: .35 carat.

A rare pair of 18K yellow gold earclips in the Sputnik style. The spheres are collet-set with round amethysts, citrines, pink and green tourmalines, garnets and aquamarines around central aquamarines set at the tops of the domes. This design was originally created by H Stern in the 1950s to showcase the range of colored gemstones available from the mines of the company’s native Brazil. It later came to be known as “Sputnik” for its resemblance to the spiky Soviet satellite launched in 1957. Each piece has a unique appearance stemming from the specific combination of gemstones used. These earrings have a bright appearance with strong aquamarines and light pink tourmalines. The earrings retain their original clips which could easily be replaced with posts, if desired. The earrings are unsigned, but most likely by Stern. Tested and guaranteed 18K.

Origin: Brazil, ca. 1955. Condition: excellent. Size: 11/16” diameter. Weight: 5.0 grams. Approximate Total Gemstone Weight: 3.50 carats.