Antique French Belle Epoque Platinum Diamond and Pearl Négligé Necklace

Antique jewellery object group: necklace (so-called négligé – a necklace with two pendants of different lengths)

Condition: very good condition

Country of origin: France

Style: Belle Époque – The Belle Époque (French for “Beautiful Era”) was a period in European social history that began during the late 19th century and lasted until World War I. Occurring during the time of the French Third Republic and theGerman Empire, the “Belle Époque” was named in retrospect, when it began to be considered a “golden age” the major powers of Europe, new technologies improved lives and the commercial arts adapted Renaissance and eighteenth-century styles to modern forms. In the newly rich United States, emerging from the Panic of 1873, the comparable epoch was dubbed the Gilded Age. In the United Kingdom, this epoch overlaps the end of what is called the Victorian Era there and the period named theEdwardian Era. or more info on styles

Style specifics: The Belle Époque (French for “Beautiful Era”) was a period in European social history that began during the late 19th century from the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) and lasted until World War I (1914-18).

Occurring during the time of the French Third Republic and the German Empire, the “Belle Époque” was named in retrospect, when it began to be considered a “golden age” the major powers of Europe, new technologies improved lives and the commercial arts adapted Renaissance and eighteenth-century styles to modern forms.

In the newly rich United States, emerging from the Panic of 1873, the comparable epoch was dubbed the Gilded Age. In the United Kingdom, this epoch overlaps the end of what is called the Victorian Era there and the period named the Edwardian Era.

In the Belle Époque cheap coal and cheap labour contributed to the cult of the orchid and made possible the perfection of fruits grown under glass, as the apparatus of state dinners extended to the upper classes; champagne was perfected during the Belle Époque. Exotic feathers and furs were more prominently featured in fashion than ever before, as haute couture was invented in Paris, the centre of the Belle Époque, where fashion began to move in a yearly cycle; in Paris restaurants such as Maxim’s achieved a new splendour and cachet as places for the rich to parade, and the Opéra Garnier devoted enormous spaces to staircases as similar showplaces.

After mid-century, railways linked all the major cities of Europe to spa towns like Biarritz and Deauville; their carriages were rigorously divided into first-class and second-class, but the super-rich now began to commission private railway coaches, as exclusivity was a hallmark of opulent luxury. Bohemian lifestyles gained a different glamour, pursued in the cabarets of Montmartre.

Period: ca. 1910

Extra info on period: Since the jewel is platinum but hallmarked with an eagles head, we know for sure that this jewel has been made before 1912. Because in 1912 France introduced a special hallmark for platinum, the dog’s head. Until then, platinum was hallmarked with the hallmark for gold, the eagle’s head

Material: platinum

Diamond(s): One old European cut diamond with an estimated weight of 1.38ct. (colour and clarity: J, si). Certified by the HRD, see the pictures for the certificate.
14 old mine brilliant-cut diamonds and old single brilliant-cut diamonds (also called 8/8) with an estimated weight of 0.25ct. (colour and clarity: G/I, si).
24 rose-cut diamonds and senailles. A senaille is a simplified rose cut diamond, a small diamond chip with perhaps a few polished facets. We do not have the weight of the rose cuts diamonds nor the senailles which is normal in our trade when it comes to rose cut diamonds and senailles.

Total diamond count: 39 pcs.

– All diamond weights, colour grades and clarity are approximate since stones are not removed from their mounts to preserve the integrity of the setting. Also, we have all diamonds screened by the IJGC – lab (www.ijgc-worldwide.com) for whether they are natural or synthetic, and all diamonds in this jewel are 100% guaranteed to be natural!

Precious stones: One cultured drop-shaped saltwater pearl with an estimated weight of 9.2 ct. and Ø 10,5 mm
– All colour stone weights are approximate since stones are not removed from their mounts to preserve the integrity of the setting.

Birthstones: Diamond is the birthstone (or month stone) for April and pearl for June.

Hallmarks: The French control mark for 18ct gold representing an eagle’s head that was in use in France from about 1838.

Dimensions: height pendant 5,20 cm (2,05 inch), length necklace 43,00 cm (16,93 inch)

Weight: 7,80 gram (5,02 dwt)