French Belle Epoque Diamond Sapphire Tiara Conversion Necklace 5+cttw Platinum

Belle Époque, it translates as 'the Beautiful Era', that sweet slice of time between the height of European prosperity and the beginning of the first World War, when peace and optimism reigned supreme, the Golden Age. Men were debonair and women dressed for dinner every night. Diamonds reigned supreme and platinum was the ‘new’ metal of choice, beautiful and strong even when thin, platinum allowed jewelers to make fabulously light and airy pieces that couldn’t have existed just a few years earlier.

This fantastic necklace most certainly started out life as a convertible jewel which could be worn either as a necklace or as the center piece on a tiara. It has a small screw hole behind the bottom diamond where it would have screwed onto a thin metal head band. Most likely it would also have been worn with real feathers attached at the top. You can certainly imagine how the hanging diamonds would have swayed and trembled as you walked, sending little rainbows all around the room. It has an equally fascinating effect worn on the neck, and it’s eminently more useful!

The chain on this necklace is a of an era with the circa 1916 pendant, both are fully crafted in platinum. The plaque is centered on an old cut Ceylon sapphire which weighs approximately 1.68 carats and is further set with 32 old European cut diamonds and 104 rose cut diamonds which add up to a sparkling total of 5.32 carats. The stone range in color and clarity, the largest 2 diamonds are I-J color and VS2-SI2 clarity. If you’d like a breakdown, please request the full appraisal. This necklace is 2.2 mm thick, 10 mm top to bottom at the widest point, and 38 mm wide, it weighs 19.6 grams and is 19 inches long. The pendant was hand crafted in France and is marked with the Mascaron mark which indicates items made of platinum in Paris between 1913 and 1926.

This stunningly luxurious jewel comes with a full appraisal by a GIA Master Gemologist, it has a replacement value of $35,700.00.

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Item ID: NE1021174VS