A green necklace for the English aristocracy

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

In terms of jewelry, fashions change. Many parts can be disassembled and reconstructed, and the history of their gems may eventually be lost. Family traditions sometimes provide jewels with a prestigious origin.

From 1762 to 1765, the 2nd Earl of Buckinghamshire was at embassy in St. Petersburg at the court of Catherine the Great. In 1832, a group of Colombian emeralds weighing a total of 100 carats was mounted in a necklace for their owner the Marquess of Lothian. Old-cut diamonds were interspersed between the emeralds. The tradition that Catherine would have given these gems to the 2nd Earl is credible, and almost demonstrated by a series of inventories in the family.

The Lothian suite offered by Christie's in Geneva on November 20, Lot 269, is composed of this necklace, remained unchanged since 1832, and of a pair of ear pendants assembled at the same time. The necklace is Empire style (Napoleonic). The canons of elegance have changed, but the scarcity of unaltered pieces assembled in the early nineteenth century can possibly justify the estimated 1.8 MCHF.

I do not know the history of ancient jewelry. I therefore record from Christie's release the names of the jewelers of the court of England at the time of the coronation of William IV (1831): Rundell, Bridge and Rundell. They were the likely authors of this suite.

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

For buyers of jewelry, old time is not a key selling point. This outfashioned necklace was not sold.