A diamond bangle bracelet with pair of brooches, Cartier,
202
A diamond bangle bracelet with pair of brooches, Cartier, 1948
each brooch designed as a tapering abstract leaf-form clip set with old European, transitional and single-cut diamonds, convertible to a hinged bangle bracelet; signed Cartier Paris, with maker's mark and French assay marks; estimated total diamond weight: 10.30 carats; brooches mounted in platinum, cuff in eighteen karat white gold; length of brooches: 1 5/8 in.; diameter of cuff bracelet: 2 1/4in.
Estimate:
US$ 80,000 - 100,000
£53,000 - 66,000
€62,000 - 77,000

Footnotes

  • Following the invention of the pendant-brooch, convertible jewelry became increasingly ingenious, with firms such as Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels leading the innovations from the late nineteenth century onward. Cartier, which always represented the highest expression of aesthetics married with function, offered numerous convertible styles, including this one, produced as a plain gold or black enameled bangle bracelet with detachable clip brooches in a variety of styles. The clips on their own could be worn on the lapels of a jacket, the straps of a dress, or as buckles on shoes. Over the interwar period, the clips evolved from geometric, toward art moderne, and eventually into floral forms. With the rise of the Hollywood style icons and the streamlining of modern women's lifestyles, this easily convertible jewel remained popular throughout the 1930s and 1940s.

Category: Jewellery

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Contacts

Susan Abeles Bonhams
Work
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Specialist - Jewelry