Boucheron

Important Fancy Deep Brownish Orangy Yellow diamond and diamond parure

VAT applies to hammer price and buyer's premium

Auction Closed

November 8, 06:50 PM GMT

Estimate

455,000 - 635,000 CHF

Lot Details

Description

Formerly in a Royal Collection

Important Fancy Deep Brownish Orangy Yellow diamond and diamond parure, Boucheron

Comprising: a necklace designed as an articulated feather, supporting pear-shaped diamond drops, including a fancy deep brownish orangy yellow diamond weighing 12.67 carats, and a pear-shaped diamond weighing 3.64 carats, set throughout with brilliant-cut diamonds and diamonds of yellow and brown tint, inner circumference approximately 365mm; a similarly designed pair of ear clips supporting two pear-shaped diamonds weighing 5.18 and 5.12 carats respectively; and a ring supporting a pear-shaped diamond weighing 2.11 carats, size 52; each signed Boucheron, numbered, French maker's and assay marks for gold, fitted case stamped Boucheron.

Accompanied by GIA report no 6234081600, stating that the diamond weighing 12.67 carats is Fancy Deep Brownish, Natural Colour, VS1 Clarity; together with four GIA reports stating that the diamonds weighing 5.18, 5.12, 3.64 and 2.11 carats are D to H Colour, VS1 to SI1 Clarity.

Please note the diamonds of yellow and brown tint have not been tested for natural colour origin.

Cf.: Henri Vever, La Bijouterie Française au XIXe Siècle, tome III, Paris, 1980, pg. 425 for the 1889 question mark necklace designed a plane tree leaf.

Cf.: Gilles Néret, Boucheron – Histoire d’une dynastie de joaillier, Fribourg, 1988, pg. 13-15 for the 1900 interpretation featuring two flower heads.

Cf.: Vincent Meylan, Boucheron – The Secret Archives, The Antique Collectors’ Club, Suffolk, 2011, pg. 104 – 107, for the peacock feather question mark necklace purchased by Grand Duke Alexei of Russia in 1883; pg. 85, for the 1885 lotus flower question mark necklace purchased by Francisco, Duke of Cadiz.

The Unanswered Question

The question mark or ‘point d'interrogation’ necklace is a true icon of the house of Boucheron. The idea originated with Frédéric Boucheron in 1879 with the first examples being produced in the 1880s. The concept of an asymmetrical, organically-shaped necklace, sprung rather than fastened with a clasp, was revolutionary at the time. The most recognisable version remains the question mark necklace designed as a peacock feather, purchased by the Russian Grand Duke Alexei (1850-1908) for his mistress Zenaida, Duchess of Leuchtenberg, in 1883. The eye of the diamond-paved peacock father was accented with a heart-shaped sapphire, framed by calibré-cut emeralds.

Between the late 1880s and the early 1900s, several unique variations on the concept were created. In 1885, Francisco, Duke of Cadiz, the former King of Spain (1822-1902), acquired a question mark necklace designed as a lotus flower. A version featuring plane tree leaves with three diamond pendants was presented in 1889, possibly at the Paris World Fair, and in 1900 one featuring two flowerheads and a cushion-shaped diamond was produced.

In recent years, Boucheron has revisited the question mark necklace in a wide range of ingenious interpretations. Lot 606 may be counted among the most ambitious of the series, boasting an impressive three-dimensionality and subtle colour nuances that make it a worthy successor to a historic, classic Boucheron design.