Catalog: Estate Jewelry (1615)

A classic pair of Edwardian almandite garnet cufflinks, the oval gemstones set simply in 18K yellow gold collet settings. The faces are attached by chains to torpedo backs. The garnets are of nice quality, having a slightly more orange coloring than is typical of almandite--nearly in the color range for spessartite garnet. Tested and guaranteed 18K.

Ca. 1910. Condition: excellent, all original. Size: 5/8" x 5/16". Weight: 6.6 grams. Approximate Total Gemstone Weight: 5.78 carats.

A nice pair of late Edwardian 14K yellow gold double-faced cufflinks, each face centering an oval blue sapphire cabochon surrounded by engine-turned engracing. The sapphires have deep blue coloring. The back of one cufflink is engraved "Linked with fondest memories" and the other completes the inscription with "To J.M. from R.M. 1919." The connectors are stamped "14K" and have the maker's mark for Wordley, Allsopp & Bliss.

• America, ca. 1919
• Excellent, original condition
• Dimensions: 5/8" x 1/2"
• Weight: 8.5 grams
• Approximate Total Gemstone Weight: 3.28 carats

An elegant Edwardian openwork 14K white gold ring set with twenty-one round diamonds graded I color, I1 to SI2 clarity. Tested and guaranteed 14K.

Origin: America, ca. 1910. Condition: excellent. Dimensions: crown, 3/4" x 5/8". Finger Size: 7-1/4. Weight: 3.9 gr. Approximate Total Diamond Weight: .75 ct.

A handsome pair of heavy Edwardian double-sided cufflinks worked in 14K yellow gold and platinum. The ornately-shaped yellow gold faces are edged with beaded and stepped platinum borders and feature black enamel tracery around round old European cut diamonds. The diamonds have bright color (estimated at I) and SI1 clarity. The faces are joined by solid connectors marked “14K”.

Origin: America, ca. 1910. Condition: excellent; no enamel damage. Size: 13/16” x 9/16”. Weight: 11.7 grams. Approximate Total Diamond Weight: .40 carat.

A superb dress set, comprising a pair of cufflinks and three shirt studs, by Tiffany & Co. Each face is fashioned from a disc of abalone centering a old European cut diamond collet-set in platinum. The borders of the faces are worked in platinum enhanced with bright-cut engraving. The diamonds are G-H color, VS clarity. The abalone has deep luster with strong overtones of iridescent red, green and orange. Cufflinks made from abablone are much less common than those made from gray or white mother-of-pearl. The added sparkle from the engraved platinum contrasts nicely. The backs and findings are worked in 14K yellow gold, but only the platinum shows when being worn. The backs are marked “Tiffany & Co./14K” and “Plat. & Gold”.

Origin: America, ca. 1910. Condition: excellent. Size: cufflinks, 9/16” diameter; studs, 5/16” diameter. Weight: 13.3 grams. Approximate Total Diamond Weight: .32 ct.

A stunning enameled 14K yellow gold pendant/brooch and matching earrings by Krementz. The flowers and leaves are expertly worked in the iridescent translucent enamel characteristic of the best pieces from Newark. The violets are centered with small pearls. The pendant/brooch is stamped with Krementz' 14K mark.

• Origin: America, ca. 1915
• Condition: excellent, no enamel damage
• Dimensions: brooch, 1-7/16" x 1-7/16"; earrings, 1-3/8" long from top of wire x 3/4". Weight: pendant/brooch, 9.8 gr; earrings, 6.0 gr

A pretty Art Nouveau 10K yellow gold locket by Elias Rees & Son, depicting a young woman surrounded by a bower of flowers. The back cover bears a period monogram, nicely worked in ornate Art Nouveau script. The interior retains the original frames and glass covers on both sides and is hallmarked by Rees.

Origin: America, ca. 1915. Condition: excellent; nice detail. Dimensions: 1" diameter (excluding bail and jump ring). Weight: 5.8 gr.

A classically elegant six-piece dress set worked in abalone mother-of-pearl, 14K yellow gold, platinum, and seed pearls. The cufflinks are double sided, with oval abalone plaques surrounded by engine-turned platinum borders. Each face is centered with a small seed pearl. The abalone has very fine luster with a nice play of green, rose, and a little orange flashes when caught in direct light. The four matching shirt studs have round faces. Each piece is stamped with Larter's hallmark. The set is sold in an old, though not original, leather-covered dress set box.

• Origin: America, ca. 1915
• Condition: excellent
• Dimensions: cufflinks, 3/4" x 1/2"; studs, 1/2" diameter.
• Weight: 15.7 grams.

A spectacular 14K gold horsehoe brooch updated as an elegant pendant necklace. The sapphires are very fine quality with bright violet-blue color ad eye-clean clarity. There is no evidence of heat treatment. The sapphires alternate with pearls of similarly fine quality. Tested and guaranteed 14K. When turned points up, horseshoes collect and capture good luck!

• Origin: America, ca 1920
• Condition: excellent
• Dimensions: pendant, 1-5/8" x 1-7/16"; length, 21-1/4"
• Approximate Total Sapphire Weight: 3.31 carats
• Weight: 9.4 grams.

An extremely fine pair of late Edwardian cufflinks by Krementz. Each face centers either a round blue sapphire or a round brilliant cut diamond with a frame of engraved yellow gold, surrounded by a band of opaque black champlevé enamel within an outer border of platinum worked in an acanthus leaf design. The diamonds are G color, VVS1 clarity. The sapphires have medium tone, vivid violetish-blue color (vB4/6). The connectors are stamped with Krementz’ hallmark and the backs of the faces are marked with serial numbers. Krementz made a wide variety of quality levels, and cufflinks of this sort would have been at the very top level, most likely retailed by Tiffany, Caldwell, and the like.

Origin: America, ca. 1910. Condition: excellent. Dimensions: 9/16” x 9/16”. Weight: 12.9 gr. Approximate Total Gemstone Weight: diamond, .26 ct; sapphire, .23 ct.

A beautiful pair of double-sided 18K yellow gold cufflinks enhanced with Prussian blue guilloche enamel enclosed in a circle of opaque white champlevé enamel surrounded by a border of ornately engine-turned gold. The faces a joined by removable s-shaped connectors. The cufflinks are presented in their original fitted box, the interior gilt-stamped with the logo for Fontenay Smets Successeur. Each of the cufflink faces and the connectors are stamped with the master goldsmith’s mark for René Forget (act 1909-21), who produced the cufflinks for the house.

Eugène Fontenay was one of the most important French jewelers of the 19th century, creating numerous pieces for the Imperial family and for other important jewelry houses such as Boucheron. When he retired in 1882, Fontenay turned his business over to his assistant, Henri Smets and its name was changed to Fontenay Smets Successeur.

Origin: France, ca. 1910. Condition: excellent, no enamel damage. Dimensions: faces, 19/32” diameter. Weight: 8.8 gr.

A classic pair of Edwardian 14K yellow gold cufflinks, the faces topped with platinum. The rectangular faces have canted corners and are decorated with engine-turned engraving. The solid connectors are marked “PL ON 14K”.

Origin: America, ca. 1915. Condition: excellent. Dimensions: 21/32” x 7/16”. Weight: 4.0 gr.

A beautifully detailed 18K gold tombstone-shaped pendant dedicated to St. George. The front shows George on horseback killing the dragon with his spear. The sun is depicted in the background with a glowing red ruby cabochon. The reverse depicts a fishing boat carrying Jesus and several disciples across the stormy Sea of Galilee, with the Latin motto “In Tempestate Securitas” (“safety in the storm”). St. George medallions do not always include the ship imagery, but when it’s there, the piece was intended to protect against the perils at sea. Generally, St. George is the patron saint of knights, soldiers, scouts, fencers, and archers, but he apparently also had a knack with the plague, leprosy, and venomous snakes.

• Origin: France, ca. 1900
• Condition: excellent, sharp detail
• Dimensions: 15/16” x 1-1/16” (excluding jump ring)
• Weight: 14.4 grams
• Approximate Gemstone Weight: .05 carat.

A fine Edwardian platinum and natural saltwater pearl necklace. The strand comprises 72 natural pearls of graduated sizes (3.7 to 5.0 mm) strung between platinum links. The pearls have symmetrical button shape, white body color with cream overtones, and excellent luster. The pearls are well-matched for size and quality throughout the strand. The necklace is finished with replaced 18K white gold clasp.

The necklace is accompanied by a gemological report from the Laboratoire Français de Gemmologie indicating that the pearls are natural saltwater.

Origin: France, ca. 1910. Condition: excellent, replaced clasp as noted. Dimensions: 17-5/8" long. Weight: 10.7 grams.

A very rare 14K yellow gold and enamel pin in the form of an oyster shell complete with a small pearl. The enamel is beautifully worked in shades of greenish- and silvery-grey. The shell is depicted as slightly opened with pearl resting along the opened edge. The back of the pin is stamped with the 14K gold hallmark of Alberts & Son, Inc., one of the Newark jewelers.

Origin: America, ca. 1915. Condition: excellent, no enamel damage, all original. Dimensions: 1-1/8 x 7/8 inches. Weight: 6.8 grams.

A lovely small locked in the form of a four-leaf clover worked in 18K yellow gold. One petal is set with a round ruby. Each of the leaves is shaped in an exaggerated heart form, perhaps to suggest the beloved contents of the interior. The interior retains the original frames and glass covers, as well as photos of the original owner’s young husband and little girl in period clothing. The locket and jump ring are both stamped with French gold marks. Interestingly, the back of the jump ring is engraved “2016,” perhaps as a reference to when the locket was passed along to another generation.

• Origin: France, ca. 1910
• Condition: excellent, all original
• Dimensions: 13/16” x 13/16” (excluding bail and jump ring)
• Weight: 7.1 grams
• Approximate Gemstone Weight: .14 carat.

A very fine Art Nouveau pendant formed from an exceptionally large natural freshwater pearl mounted in platinum and gold and set with diamonds. The floral platinum mounting features a .15 carat old European diamond and nine single-cut diamonds. The bail is shaped as a clover and is set with three additional diamonds. The pearl has fine luster with rose and green orient. Tested and guaranteed platinum and 14K gold. The contemporary chain is 14K white gold.

• Origin: America, ca. 1910
• Condition: excellent
• Dimensions: pendant, 1-9/16" x 1/2"; chain, 16"
• Weight: 5.5 grams
• Approximate Total Diamond Weight: .45 carat

A lovely French garland-style pendant/brooch in platinum and set with diamonds. The garland style, popularized by Cartier, heavily borrowed Louis XVI motifs such as bows, ribbons and laurel wreaths—all seen in this example. When worked in platinum, the designs take on a delicate appearance and allow the diamonds to shine. The center old European cut diamond, graded as J/SI1, weighs .48 carat. The diamond hanging from an articulated millegrained knife-edge mounting has the same grading and weighs .35 carat. The smaller diamonds are a mix of antique cushion, rose and Swiss cuts. This piece has two small loops at the top of the back so it can be worn from a fine platinum chain. When worn as a pendant, the 18K gold brooch fitting can be unscrewed and removed entirely. Convertible fittings such as this were difficult to make and always signaled a piece of high quality. The hallmarks allow the pendant/brooch to be definitively dated prior to 1912.

Origin: France, ca. 1910. Condition: excellent, all original. Size: 1-11/16” x 1-9/16”. Weight: 10.8 grams. Approximate Total Diamond Weight: 2.15 carats.