RAPAPORT... During the 1920s, graphic and linear designs usurped the throne of the Edwardian era, when garlands and curvaceous forms held court. Dresses lost their waists and flappers danced around in fringed tunics. Jewelry became a celebration of shapes, with clever uses of color punctuating platinum’s white stage with new drama. Diamond cutting technology improved and gem cutters could now produce finer, more angular cuts, giving rise to the use of emerald, French, and calibre cut diamonds. These diamonds, as well as kite, shield, marquise and baguette cut stones became the lexicon that would define Art Deco jewelry and remain popular well into the 1930s. By the end of that decade, color was absent, outline and form took center stage and geometry stole the show. At mid-century, Julius Cohen designs were the stuff of fantasy and Harry Winston’s lush rows of pear shapes and marquise cut gemstones glamorized diamonds in a way that has often been imitated but rarely matched. These rocks became “a girl’s best friend,” and the Winston look, a classic.
MACHINE AGEIn terms of how diamonds were cut, Art Deco jewelry reflected the culture of the machine age. “Victorian diamonds were very deeply cut stones, whereas the diamonds in later jewelry were not cut with the same proportions,” says antique-cut diamond specialist, Michael Goldstein of Michael Goldstein, Ltd. “Modern stones dazzled the eye with their brilliance.” Gus Davis, a principal at Camilla Dietz Bergeron Ltd, adds that geometric diamonds added a finished and clean look to the jewelry. “It put a final touch on jewelry, even to an engagement ring where you have a central stone flanked by fancy-shaped accent stones.”
Fancy-cut diamonds resulted in a more interesting product, says Pat Saling of Pat Saling, Ltd. in New York. “Stones today are produced for maximum weight as opposed to design.” Saling has handled many fine pieces of Art Deco and 1930s jewelry and finds a remarkable number of different diamond cuts among them: bullet, French, calibre, emerald, marquise, crescent and half-moon. “The fancy shapes were inherent to the design of the piece. Rings had nice plum stones, like the emerald cuts.” Saling says that wide bracelets most commonly feature these exotic shapes, which gave them their wonderful character.
Lisa Hubbard, Sotheby’s chairman of Jewelery for North and South America, explains how Art Deco and, later, 1930s design, departed from nineteenth-century naturalism. “The 1920s was a transitional period. It still retained some curvaceous qualities, but when you got to the 1930s, it was all about real geometry. It was how you got dimension in jewelry.” The monochromatic palette that characterized 1930s jewelry was made exciting through the use of shape. “The pointed end of a Jabot brooch,” explains Hubbard, “was a great place to use fancy cut diamonds. Van Cleef & Arpels made terrific tassel bracelets that incorporated bullet and half-moon shapes. In the 1920s and 1930s, patterns were created with diamonds and it was the stones alone that created patterns that made the jewelry look like fabric.”
For Davis, the all-white look of 1930s jewelry can be a challenge. “It has to be studied a little bit more closely. The beauty is all in how those fancy shapes were composed. The jewelry had a heftier appearance and there are not as many remarkable earring designs as there were in the 1920s, when you had drop earrings in fashion.” Davis recalls handling an especially beautiful circa 1932 Van Cleef & Arpels bracelet. “The shapes, an old European cut diamond and bullets, gave it a wonderful contrast.”
The 1950s
The 1950s saw a return to the feminine form in both fashion and jewelry. The curvilinear silhouettes found in pins, necklaces and bracelets echoed the wasp-waisted, floral forms in dresses and skirts. What better than pear or marquise cut diamonds magically gathered together and scattered over a bracelet, necklace or ring to create something only the imagination can dream up? The effect was provocatively seductive or, in the case of the jewelry firm, Julius Cohen, utterly whimsical.
The firm produced jewelry using not only fancy cut gems but but also fancy colored diamonds, too. “They used a lot of marquise, pear and baguette cut stones,” recalls Davis. The firm’s trademark cocktail rings, which incorporated marquise stones, were the precursor of the popular dome-shaped ring. Davis also notes that Cohen created earrings using briolette diamonds; the effect was lyrical and romantic.
The opulent curves of pear or marquise cut diamonds, generously assembled in eye-catching numbers, became an intensely tactile experience. Harry Winston’s minimal use of platinum showcased the gemstones to their best advantage. The light picked up by the diamonds, which were set in rows and clusters, floated across the jewelry without interruption. Winston classics, like the wreath necklace, cluster earrings and crescent brooch, became famous jewels and were worn and broadcast on Oscar nights for decades thereafter. Winston continues to offer these designs today.
“It was a minimal use of metal and very gem-intensive,” explains Saling. “It showcased the stones and the look was big, brash, and sexy and looked great with clothing. It was a juicy kind of jewelry.”
This particular genre of jewelry is commonly recognized as the brainchild of Harry Winston, together with the incredible talents of A.V. Shinde, who designed the jewelry. Shinde blended his finely honed aesthetic with Winston’s entrepreneurial spirit and created something uniquely and iconically American. “Mr. Shinde almost always used fancy cut diamonds,” says Winston’s Peter Schneirla, vice chairman and chief gemologist. “His Indian background lent itself to using these diamonds; it was a sophisticated perspective.”
When asked how the idea for amassing pear and marquise cut diamonds came about, Schneirla says that somehow Winston was able to get his hands on a massive amount of rough stones and much of this material was irregular in shape. To maintain a desired weight, the stones were cut into fancy shapes. The ironic result is that the jewelry dovetailed perfectly with fashion trends and taste sensibilities that were so enthusiastically embraced during the post-war period.
Article from the Rapaport Magazine - April 2007. To subscribe click here.