I don’t always pay enough attention to mid-century jewelry, between my love for the geometry of Art Deco, the froth of Edwardian, and the quirk and mystery of Victorian and Georgian (and, of course, the lure of edgy contemporary).
This 1950s turquoise and diamond necklace is here to remind me that a lot of things worth paying attention to happened between Art Deco and the 1970’s.
I’m entirely smitten. The vibrant, luscious turquoise the color of a tropical sea; the perfect diamond embellishments; the jaunty, perfectly spaced fringe. It’s a masterpiece.
A masterpiece by Julius Cohen, to be specific, and one that dates to 1950.
It’s composed of 12 oval turquoise cabochons alternating with 12 pear shaped diamonds (totaling 6.75 cts) in yellow gold bezels draped with baguette diamond details. 110 baguette diamonds, with three rows draping each pear-shaped diamond, to be specific.
The central turquoise and diamond necklace further suspends a glamorous fringe of nine turquoise drops adorned with 13.90 carats of diamonds (216 pave-set diamonds, and 8 round diamonds). The necklace is on the shorter side, just 15.5 inches long.
The auction listing for this vintage turquoise and diamond necklace said that it was “property of a Palm Beach lady” which sounds just about perfectly accurate to me. A Palm Beach lady who attended some really glamorous parties, I’ll bet.
This piece was sold in a Doyle New York Auction. All images and info are thanks to Doyle New York.
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