Typical Art Deco lorgnette or face a main with diamonds onyx coral

Antique jewelry object group: lorgnette or face-a-main

Condition: very good condition
  -  (more info on our condition scale)

Country of origin: Although it does not carry any legible control marks we believe this to be of Belgian origin.

Style: Art Deco - Art Deco is an eclectic artistic and design style which had its origins in Paris in the first decades of the 20th century. The style originated in the 1920s and continued to be employed until after World War II. The term "art deco" first saw wide use after an exhibition in 1966, referring to the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes that was the culmination of high-end style modern in Paris. Led by the best designers in the decorative arts such as fashion, and interior design, Art Deco affected all areas of design throughout the 1920s and 1930s, including architecture and industrial design, as well as the visual arts such as painting, the graphic arts and film. At the time, this style was seen as elegant, glamorous, functional and modern.
  -  See also: Art Deco or more info on styles

Style specifics: Abstract motives and geometrical forms are quite typical for the Art Deco period. Art Deco moved away from the soft pastels and organic forms of its style predecessor, Art Nouveau, and embraced influences from many different styles and movements of the early 20th century, including Neoclassical, Constructivism, Cubism, Modernism, and Futurism. Its popularity peaked in Europe during the Roaring Twenties and continued strongly in the United States through the 1930s. Although many design movements have political or philosophical roots or intentions, Art Deco was purely decorative.

Period: ca. 1920
  -  (events & facts of this era, poetry of this era, fashion of this era)

Material: platinum and 18K white gold
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Extra information: Art Deco - The Art Deco style is a very famous and popular art movement that had a lot influence in the world of jewelry. Art Deco was introduced in the 1920s as protest against the Art Nouveau style. Art Deco ended in the 1930s. The style emphasized a very abstract design with geometric patterns and as most favorite colors: black (onyx), blue (sapphire) , green (emerald) , white (diamond) and red (coral). The baguette and emerald-cuts, which had been developed in the nineteenth century, where very popular in the 1920s because they blended so much with the geometrical lines of the Art Deco style.

Most of the Art Deco jewelry has a very luxury design. This is because of the large amount of money that was made in the war of 1914. All this money gave the opportunity to buy the best fashionable materials like: diamonds, platinum, red gold and yellow gold for the design of the jewels. Of course there are a lot of beautiful but less priced jewels in the Art Deco movement. Years later in the 1960s and 1970s Art Deco came back as a very popular decorative art. Even nowadays you can see that Art Deco style has great influence on our designing in all kind of branches.

History of Art Deco

After the Universal Exposition of 1900, various French artists formed a formal collective known as, La Société des artistes décorateurs (the society of the decorator artists). Founders included Hector Guimard, Eugène Grasset, Raoul Lachenal, Paul Follot, Maurice Dufrene, and Emile Decour. These artists heavily influenced the principles of Art Deco as a whole. This society's purpose wasto demonstrate French decorative art's leading position and evolution internationally. They organized the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes (International Exposition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Art), which would feature French art and business interests. Russian artist Vadim Meller was awarded a gold medal for his scenic design there.

The initial movement was called Style Moderne. The term Art Deco was derived from the Exposition of 1925, though it was not until the late 1960s that this term was coined by art historian Bevis Hillier, and popularized by his 1968 book Art Deco of the 20s and 30s. In the summer of 1969, Hillier conceived organizing an exhibition called Art Deco at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, which took place from July to September 1971. After this event, interest in Art Deco peaked with the publication of Hillier's 1971 book The World of Art Deco, a record of the exhibition.

Diamond(s): 53 rose cut diamonds. We do not have the weight of the diamonds which is normal in our trade when it comes to rose cuts.
Two old cut single brilliant cut diamonds (also called 8/8) with an estimated weight of ± 0.06ct. (colour and clarity: G/I, si/i).
- All diamond weights, color grades and clarity are approximate since the stones were not removed from their mounts to preserve the integrity of the setting.

(without the rose cut diamonds)

Precious stones: Eight baguette cut onyx and an onyx tube.
One coral

Birthstones: Diamond is the birthstone (or month stone) for April and onyx for July.
  -  (more info on birthstones)

Hallmarks: No trace.
  -  (more info on hallmarks)

Dimensions: height 9,60 cm (3,78 inch)

Weight: 22,70 gram (14,60 dwt)

Reference Nº: 16200-0169

Copyright photography: Adin, fine antique jewelry

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