Magnificent Jewels
Magnificent Jewels
Property of a Private Collector
Colored Stone and Diamond 'Mauna' Necklace and Pair of Earclips | 卡地亞 | 彩色寶石及鑽石 'Mauna' 項鏈及一對耳夾
Auction Closed
December 7, 09:12 PM GMT
Estimate
200,000 - 300,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
Property of a Private Collector
Cartier | Colored Stone and Diamond 'Mauna' Necklace and Pair of Earclips
卡地亞 | 彩色寶石及鑽石 'Mauna' 項鏈及一對耳夾
The necklace featuring emerald-cut and pear-shaped topazes, complemented by a hexagonal rutilated quartz, square and baguette-cut sapphires, a shield shaped diamond and round diamonds, the earclips suspending pear-shaped topazes, accented by baguette-cut sapphires and square and round diamonds, each signed Cartier, with Swiss assay and workshop marks, the necklace numbered GTY379, the earclips numbered GTY353. The earclips fitted with posts. Accompanied by signed boxes.
Accompanied by LFG report no. 337097 dated May 9, 2018 stating that the pear-shaped topaz weighing 10.88 carats shows no indications of heat treatment.
Accompanied by LFG report no. 337092 dated May 11, 2018 stating that the two emerald-cut topazes weighing a total of 11.03 carats show no indications of heat treatment.
Accompanied by LFG report no. 356169 dated April 19, 2019 stating that the two pear-shaped topazes weighing a total of 6.13 carats show no indications of heat treatment.
Accompanied by GIA report no. 2155328386 dated May 8, 2018 stating that the shield-shaped diamond weighing 0.63 carat is G color, VS2 clarity.
Accompanied by two Cartier Certificates dated December 7, 2019.
Accompanied by two Cartier Valuations dated December 7, 2019.
This impressive “Mauna” necklace was featured in The New York Times Magazine on March 2020 where it is described as embodying “the combination of restraint and radiant excess” exercised by famed designer Jeanne Toussaint. Toussaint, having previously headed up Cartier’s silver department, was hired to take over the artistic direction of the firm’s jewelry production in 1933. The first woman to hold such a significant position, she was admired for her great style and known for her eccentricities, from her turbaned hair to the exotic pelts strewn about her home. While best known for her iconic panther jewels, most notably her creations for the Duchess of Windsor in the late 1940s and ‘50s, Toussaint’s early designs adhered to the geometric forms favored at the time, but she occasionally diverged from her contemporaries by employing unusual gemstones. The NY Times notes that she explored “rare pinkish-orange imperial topaz, mined in the 19th century in western Russia’s Ural Mountains, when only the czar’s family were allowed to wear the stones.” The present necklace is set with vibrant topazes from Brazil and, in a surprising twist, rutilated quartz slashed by lightning-like inclusions, likely inspiring the name “Mauna,” the Hawaiian word for volcano. It presents a breath-taking combination of classicism and exuberance that Madame Toussaint would be proud to claim as her own.