Various Properties
A PAIR OF RARE ANTIQUE INDIAN DIAMOND BRIOLETTES
Details
A PAIR OF RARE ANTIQUE INDIAN DIAMOND BRIOLETTES
Each facetted diamond bead weighing 14.46 and 18.40 carats later mounted as ear pendants
Diamond beads were generally produced from dodecahedroid rough of near-spherical shape. Several fancy cut diamonds with all-round faceting can be found in the inventories of the Hope and Brunswick Collections and in the Iranian Treasury. Cf. Lord Twining, 'A History of the Crown Jewels of Europe,' (B. T. Batsford Ltd.) p. 546, pl. 189, b(ii) from the Russian Crown Jewels for an earring set with a 'very rare Indian briolette' weighing approximately 40.50 carats of 'Indian cutting'. Up until 1730 India had perfected the art of cutting diamonds and consequently were commissioned by grand duchesses to set and thread the various loose diamonds into garlands to sparkle and adorn the hair, robe and corsage.
For another example of the use of briolettes Cf. Hans Nadelhoffer, 'Cartier Jewellers Extraordinary,' (Thames and Hudson) p. 79 where it is mentioned that a simple tiara of twenty-one briolette-cut diamonds was commissioned in 1905 for a great operatic prima donna of her time, the soprano Lillian Nordica from Maine whose international career was cut tragically short in a shipwreck off New Guinea in 1914. (2)
Each facetted diamond bead weighing 14.46 and 18.40 carats later mounted as ear pendants
Diamond beads were generally produced from dodecahedroid rough of near-spherical shape. Several fancy cut diamonds with all-round faceting can be found in the inventories of the Hope and Brunswick Collections and in the Iranian Treasury. Cf. Lord Twining, 'A History of the Crown Jewels of Europe,' (B. T. Batsford Ltd.) p. 546, pl. 189, b(ii) from the Russian Crown Jewels for an earring set with a 'very rare Indian briolette' weighing approximately 40.50 carats of 'Indian cutting'. Up until 1730 India had perfected the art of cutting diamonds and consequently were commissioned by grand duchesses to set and thread the various loose diamonds into garlands to sparkle and adorn the hair, robe and corsage.
For another example of the use of briolettes Cf. Hans Nadelhoffer, 'Cartier Jewellers Extraordinary,' (Thames and Hudson) p. 79 where it is mentioned that a simple tiara of twenty-one briolette-cut diamonds was commissioned in 1905 for a great operatic prima donna of her time, the soprano Lillian Nordica from Maine whose international career was cut tragically short in a shipwreck off New Guinea in 1914. (2)