A JEWELLED ROCK-CRYSTAL CIGARETTE CASE, FRENCH, PROBABLY 1925,

According to Sylvia Mayfair’s 1925 description of ‘The Woman in London’, crystal cases were the must-have of the decade: ‘Not wireless, but crystal smoking sets are the craze of the moment. Crystal cigarette cases now accompany long crystal cigarette holders. A touch of colour to these transparent affairs is given by a blue or red monogram in one corner’ (The Granthan Journal, Saturday, 21 February 1925, p. 2).

It therefore comes as no surprise that this trend was soon to be picked up by a range of jewellers and available in different varieties and qualities. Elegant and opulent jewelled cigarette cases were as much a desired accessoire for the smart lady during parties and soirées, as was their designated female counterpart, the vanity case. Soon to reach the status of an own art form and a collectible in its own right, as proven by collections such as the one of The Prince and Princess Sadruddin Aga Khan, both reflect the fashions of the period, often extending the ‘transparent affair’ to one of bold colours, such as green jade, coral and black lacquer. These audacious combinations are directly linked to their original sources rooted in Indian, Persian, Japanese, Chinese of Egyptian culture (see lot 125). When Louis Cartier was told by one of his workmen that the style of his choice might be perceived as too ornamental and fussy, he is said to have answered that the range of exceptional creations made in the nineteen twenties would represent the extraordinary era in which they were produced.