Fulco di Verdura for Paul Flato “Bow” bracelet, 18K yellow gold set with 57 cabochon rubies (approx. 55 carats TW) and 57 round diamonds (approx. 7.50 carats TW) c. 1938
Cartier, Paris “Elephant” Maillon Panthere bracelet in 18k gold and set with 200 round cut diamonds (approx. 10 carats TW) and three round cut emeralds for the eyes, signed: Cartier (script signature), no. 641403, 750, French Eagle’s head assay mark for 18k gold (3x), maker’s mark in a diamond cartouche, c.1980’s
Jean Schlumberger for Tiffany & Co. “Berry brooch” 18K yellow gold, demantoids and cabochon turquoise, signed, c. 1968
Jean Schlumberger for Tiffany & Co. “Berry brooch” 18K yellow gold set with 40 oval cut demantoid garnets (approx. 9 carats TW /G.I.A. certificate) and 7 small oval cabochon Persian turquoise stones, Signed: Tiffany, Schlumberger, 18K, c. 1968
Illustrated: (“Bejewelled by Tiffany 1837-1987”, Clare Phillips, page 279 (Vintage Tiffany Blue Book 1968-1969, ruby version of this brooch priced at $1,475)
Jean Claude Champagnat, Paris (1923-1980) for the famous Couturier, Christian Dior (1905-1957) “Exotic Flower Blossom” ring in 18K gold with flower blossoms gemset with 3 round rose-cut rubies (approx. 2 carats TW) and 15 marquise shaped Kunzite flower petals, signed, c. 1950’s
American Art Deco ring (likely by Louis C. Tiffany for Tiffany & Co.) set with a large blue zircon (approx. 64 carats by calculation, 20mm x 20mm x 19mm) set in a fancy platinum mount further set with 14 round cut diamonds, four bullet shaped gold/orange citrines and two kite shaped gold/orange citrines, marked: very deeply stamped letters as a maker’s mark on the inside of the shank, c. 1930
***Top quality gem blue zircons over 10 carats trade at a minimum price of $200 per carat and go up from there depending on the size of the stone and the quality of the color. Blue zircon, the most popular color, is produced by heat treatment of brown zircon. But not all brown zircon will turn blue when heated; only some zircon has the right physical structure for this to occur. This is why most blue zircon comes from certain sources in Cambodia or Burma. Blue zircon is a reasonably hard gem with a Mohs hardness of about 7 to 7.5. Blue zircon has some unique properties that make it very popular with gemstone aficionados. Not only does zircon have outstanding brilliance, but it also has very strong dispersion or fire, the tendency to split white light into the spectral colors. Zircon also has very pronounced birefringence or double refraction, with a wide variance between the two refractive indices. This can be often be observed with the naked eye when you look down through the table of a cut zircon; you will observe facet doubling that makes the facet edges appear blurred.
Louis Comfort Tiffany for Tiffany & Co. “Oval Moon” brooch set with a large gem quality moonstone (approx. 43 carats) set with 23 Montana sapphires (approx. 8 carats TW), marked: 10% Irid. Plat, c. 1920
Hector Guimard for Maison Coilliot / Art Nouveau glazed lava tile 1898
HECTOR GUIMARD (1867-1942) France
MAISON COILLIOT Lille, France
Tile c. 1898
Fired and glazed lava with abstract whiplash motifs in various tones of aqua blue on the obverse and a partial graphic on the reverse with polychrome floral and linear details.
Marks: 16 (on top of tile)
French architect Hector Guimard (1867-1942) realized the decorative possibilities of glazed lava, a substance made from mixing pulverized lava with clay when he built a villa for Louis Coillot, (1898-1900) a ceramics manufacturer in Lille who monopolized the distribution of the material. Guimard sided the entire facade of Maison Coilliot in lava stone.
***A related glazed lava tile from the Castel Henriette is in the Collection of the Musee d’Orsay.
The Maison Coilliot is an Art Nouveau house located on 14, rue de Fleurus in Lille, France. Louis Coilliot, a French ceramic entrepreneur, was fond of enameled lava and wanted to popularize the technique. To do so, Coilliot commissioned Hector Guimard, an architect he’d met at the 1897 fair La Céramique et tous les arts du feu, (“Ceramic Arts & Glass Making”), to apply the technique to his house’s façade. Coilliot’s factory and warehouse were located to the rear of his house, and therefore the façade held a double
purpose, both decorating the front of his home and advertising his business.
For more information see: Hector Guimard, 1867-1942: Architektur in Paris um 1900 (Munich: Museum Villa Stuck, 1975)
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