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Lot 8538

Faceted Cultured Pearl and Gem-Set Brooch

4 December 2005, 11:00 PST
Los Angeles

US$1,800 - US$2,200

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Faceted Cultured Pearl and Gem-Set Brooch

Designed in the form of a butterfly, the insects body formed of a faceted natural black color cultured pearl from Tahiti, measuring 16.0 mm, with a beautiful peacock iridescence revealed beneath the faceted surface. The head is formed by a 10.0 mm button-shaped white cultured pearl and the thorax is formed of two lines of small brilliant-cut yellow sapphires. The illusion is completed with the two wings formed of 18K yellow gold piercework, signed Gregoré. The process of faceting pearls, started by the Japanese in the late 1990s, has gained popularity in the last five years. It can only be performed on pearls which have nacre sufficiently thick enough to withstand the faceting process, such as a South Seas or Chinese pearl.

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