Cartier Oriental Saltwater Pearl, Platinum & Diamond Collier de Chien, c. 1910. SOLD
SOLD Exquisite woven natural Oriental Pearl, Platinum and Diamond Collier de Chien, Cartier, New York, signed and numbered, Edwardian, circa 1910.
Seventy-nine diamonds of high color (approximately G/H) and high clarity (approximately VS) describe a buckle and clasp motif for the front of the neck and finished with a diamond clasp. The estimated diamond weight is 1.65 cts.
The clasp is fitted with an invisible spring mechanism which will expand (or contract) the length 3/8th of an inch. The total length of the Collier de Chien (dog collar) is 13 inches expandable to 13 3/8th inches. The width varies between .50 inches and .75 inches. The piece has a weight of 22 grams. The natural pearls which are woven into a complex but subtle pattern consists of sizes ranging from 1.7 to 2.7 mm. The pearls, all with clean surfaces (or skins), are well matched in their luminescence and color.
The collar is in fine condition and was may have been recently restrung. While it would not be an easy alteration, it could be lengthened (with matching natural pearls) or shortened. We would quote a price, and the time involved, if such an alteration is requested.
Notes from the archives:
Several reasons place the time for creation of this Cartier piece to be quite early in the firm's history in New York. While it was Louis who put in place the plans for Cartier, New York, which began in late 1909 on lower Fifth Avenue, it was Pierre who actually operated the New York store just as Jacques was the brother selected for London with Louis holding down Paris of course.
Since roughly 1903, Edwardian jewels emphasized designs that combined platinum, diamonds and natural pearls so that by 1910 such examples were de rigueur for a proper lady.
For example, Nadelhoffer (p. 49) shows an oriental natural pearl dog collar done in 1908 by the Paris shop for the Princess de Ganay in which the weaving is quite similar to the woven seed pearl work in our piece. Similar to most Cartier dog collars they may have been tight fitting but they had spring loaded clasps that made eating and swallowing comfortable and easy as does our example.
Also as Rudoe (p 46) points out, signatures for New York were usually but not always executed with block capital letters. Indeed our collar has engraved script with the famous delicacy between the i and e in the word Cartier.
Because of the foregoing we would comfortably assert that our natural pearl collier was done by Paris for New York and not marked platinum because the head of the dog mark was not required until 1912. Thus we date this piece as one in New York between 1909 and 1911.
Additionally this necklace is signed Cartier, NY with three numbers -100- on the bottom of the male portion of the clasp followed by another three numbers -130 - on the top of the clasp. We believe that Cartier New York began with a six digit serial number, 100001. Could it be that 100130 was the 130th piece offered at New York by Cartier, making ours a rarity of the first order to be sure?
References for the above: Nadelhoffer, p. 49. Hans Nadelhoffer. Cartier: Jeweler Extraordinaire. Original text copyright 1984 Hans Nadelhoffer. San Francisco: Chronicle Books LLC. 2007.
Rudoe, p. 46. Judy Rudoe. Cartier 1900 to 1939. New York: Harry Abrams, Inc. and Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1997.
All items sold are accompanied by a detailed Statement of Value by our gemologist, as well as all original gemological documentation, if specified in the listing. As always, we guarantee all of pieces to be exactly as represented. Each piece of jewelry arrives in a finely gift-wrapped presentation box.
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