IMAGES: CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. (2007); WIKIMEDIA COMMONS; CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. (1998)
SEPTEMBER
DIAMONDS.NET
In keeping with the authors’ respective
specialties, the book is divided into two sections:
“History” and “Market.”
“The latter...is driven by my own fascination with
the subject as a dealer,” Betteley remarks. “I am
lucky to have a library filled with Russian auction
catalogs dating back
years.”
P U T T I NG F A B E R G É I N P E R S P E C T I V E
In the chapter on Fabergé, without which “no book
on Russian jewelry is complete,” Betteley notes, “we
put the firm in proper perspective by casting it as a
shining star rather than the sun in a constellation of
master jewelers.” Hence the book’s title.
It’s a tack that might surpriseWestern readers,
she admits. “People don’t realize that long before
Fabergé’s tenure, the imperial era marked the high
point of the Russian jewelers’ art. By the mid- th
century, the quality of St. Petersburg’s jewelry
equaled if not surpassed the best that Paris, London,
Rome and Vienna could offer.”
Apart from a focus on Fabergé, she says, “few
publications in theWest cover the rich history
of Russian jewelry.
Our book is the first
systematic survey
of all the leading
Russian jewelers and
silversmiths in any
language.” Most of the
information is new, if
not groundbreaking,
“based on research we
conducted over seven
years in the Russian archives and [in] published
Russian, English, German and French sources.”
The chapter on “The Fate of the Russian Crown
Jewels,” she points out, reveals details never before
published in English. “What makes it relevant to
us as Westerners is that most of the Russian crown
jewels were sold to theWest and may very well still
be here! In this chapter, we trace those items we
know were resold, and offer images of those still
at large.”
I N S I D E R S AND I NNO V A T O R S
The magnificent jewels of the Romanov rulers
helped define their wealth and power to the world.
In turn, their passion for acquiring these bejeweled
pieces led court jewelers to new heights of creativity.
“Russia’s court was deemed the richest in Europe
for a reason,” says Betteley. “Many jewelers,
particularly those with the Imperial Warrant —
the seal and title granted by the Imperial Cabinet
allowing them to show they were suppliers to the
tsars —were influenced by the tastes of the Russian
monarchs. From
, with the rule of Catherine
I, to the end of Catherine the Great’s reign in
, women ruled Russia, and the production of
jewels for the court skyrocketed, keeping scores of
jewelers, goldsmiths, silversmiths and luxury-goods
makers feverishly busy.”
Of the many jewelers who worked in the country
at the time, Betteley highlights “ th-century Swiss
immigrant Jeremie Pauzié, who was very close
to the court and witnessed five palace coups, and
the House of Bolin, which was the best in the th
century. Pauzié created new techniques of gem-
cutting and casting, and was a Renaissance man
of the trade. Carl Edvard Bolin outshone all other
jewelers with the production of magnificent parures
for his aristocratic clients. His revenue was three
times that of Fabergé, whose focus was more on
objects of vertu, up until the beginning of the
th century.”
There were other standouts as well. “In enamels,
it was Fedor Rückert, and in silver, Sazikov.
Founded during the reign of Catherine the Great in
Moscow, Sazikov introduced historicism in Russian
silver, excelled in the Style Russe and won great
acclaim in international exhibitions, particularly in
in London. Decades before Fabergé’s famous
guilloché enamels, Sazikov introduced to Russia the
tour à guillocher
, an engine-turning machine made
in France.”
I C ON S O F T HE MONA R CHY
Using adjectives like “glamorous,” “sensual,”
“magnificent” and “innovative” to describe the
work of these leading jewelers, Betteley points to
“What makes it relevant
to us asWesterners is that
most of the crown jewels
were sold to theWest and
may very well still be here”
Opposite page: Prince
Nicholas of Greece and
Grand Duchess Elena
Vladimirovna; Empress
Elizabeth Alekseevna by
Jean Laurent Mosnier, 1805.
Right: Silver and enamel
box by Ovchinnikov, late
19th century.
