This thing is seriously pretty.
You see my point? It's an Edwardian sautoir by J.E. Caldwell and Co, which means it's long, intricate, and fabulous.
A sautoir is a long necklace that suspends a tassel or other kind of ornament - diamond tassels, in this case. They were often made of woven or twisted pearls like this one, or set with gems (particularly in the later Art deco period). Here are a couple of pictures of fabulous women wearing sautoirs. This will not be the last sautoir I show you.
This delicate piece is composed of seed pearl mesh, suspending 5.20 carats of diamonds at the ends (including the two larger old European-cut diamonds and the smaller, pear-shaped drops). It was made in 1905. The necklace is 23 inches, so as I mentioned, this is a longer piece.
Let's see some detail shots.
And to show you that the pearl mesh goes all the way around:
Beautiful. This fantastic piece was listed in Sotheby's 05 December 2012 Magnificent Jewels sale. All images and information are thanks to Sotheby's.
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Labels: Belle Epoque / Edwardian, diamonds, J.E. Caldwell, necklaces, pearls, sautoirs, tassels
