Marcus & Co.

Founded in New York in the 1890s by brothers William, George and Hermann Marcus, sons of a German émigré jeweler, Marcus & Co. grew from a family deeply rooted in the jewelry trade. Having trained under their father and within the network of European-trained craftsmen working in New York at the close of the nineteenth century, the brothers brought continental techniques and sensibilities to an emerging American luxury market eager to establish its own artistic identity. The firm quickly became one of the leading jewelers of the period, admired for designs that balanced European elegance with a lighter, more fluid sensibility distinctly its own.

The present brooch captures these qualities beautifully. A vividly saturated pear-shaped sapphire is framed by scrolling diamond-set acanthus leaves, their curling forms giving the jewel a sense of movement and vitality. Characteristic of Marcus & Co. at its best, the design achieves richness without heaviness, allowing the sapphire’s color to remain the focal point.