Property From the Collection of Dr. Susan Weber
This collection includes pieces by Carlo Giuliano, the famed revivalist jeweler of the late 19th century. Each jewel is a tour de force of craftsmanship. The brooch, for example, explores the delicate wirework of ancient goldsmiths while the pendant interprets Renaissance enamelwork with precise pointillism. As one-of-a-kind pieces in remarkable condition, they are ideal for someone with an appreciation of history and rarity, serving as great building blocks for a collection focused on connoisseurship.
The story of the jewelry house Graff is inseparable from the life of its charismatic and visionary founder, Laurence Graff. Born in 1938 to Romanian and Russian parents in Stepney, east London, Graff began his journey to the top of the jewelry industry with an apprenticeship at the local jewelers Schindler, before working independently as a jewelry designer, supplying several jewelers across the UK. In 1960, he founded Graff Diamonds, forming lasting relationships with some of the world’s most important jewelry collectors, including the 29th Sultan of Brunei. Over the following decades, Graff built his company into a global empire, now with over 50 stores worldwide.
Graff’s extraordinary success rests on his innate understanding of diamonds and his insistence on perfectly proportioned cuts, optimising the brilliance, color and overall quality of every stone he handles. This passion and affinity for both diamonds and colored stones has brought many of the world’s rarest and most beautiful jewels into his orbit, including the and the 8.62-carat Graff ruby, and the record-breaking Graff Pink, a 24.78-carat Fancy Intense Pink diamond, sold at Sotheby’s Geneva in 2010 and 2014 respectively.
David Webb’s devoted clientele included Doris Duke, Elizabeth Taylor and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Socialites and stars flocked to the New York jeweler’s bold and whimsical designs, which often incorporated animal motifs and unexpected stones like coral, jade and turquoise. With their emphasis on volume, yellow gold and colored gems, Webb jewels were perfect for photo ops and Hollywood films.
Weekly visits to The Metropolitan Museum of Art inspired Webb to incorporate motifs from around the world, including ancient Greek, Roman and Egyptian, as well as pre-Columbian, Indian and Chinese. With his love of enamelling, intricately carved stones, yellow gold and bright chromatic combinations, Webb’s style is larger-than-life, whimsical, sensual, and absolutely unmistakable.
