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Roses Without Thorns
Jun 1, 2001 1:26 PM
By Gail Brett Levine
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Georgian and early Victorian rose cut diamond jewelry has always sold reasonably well at auction due to its distinctive design, use of diamonds and metal content. However, the Colin Collection, a single-owner sale held at Christie’s New York in April 1995, elevated the importance of jewelry of this era, an importance which has continued for the past six years. It is interesting to note that in the past two years, jewelry from the Colin Collection has been recycled back into the auction market and is being greeted with the same enthusiasm while bringing substantial prices.
During the Georgian era and early Victorian period, precious gems were considered more important than precious metals. The craftsman’s main concern was how many diamonds he could incorporate into a single piece. The jewelry designs themselves lend themselves to this clustering effect — baskets of flowers, flower sprays, feather plumes — allowing the artist to literally set hundreds of diamonds in a single jewelry item.
Brooches and rings are the primary survivors of this period. The flexible cluster style bracelets, necklaces and earrings rarely have survived the over 250-year journey to the twenty-first century. The typical silver-topped gold mounting lent itself to eventual breakage and, at times, lead solder repair. Careful examination is necessary to ascertain that earrings are not sections of bracelets; that bracelets are not fragments of necklaces; that broo-ches are not surviving earrings and that rings do not have new shanks installed.
It’s Not the Weight
You cannot look at rose cut diamond jewelry factually with a recut formula in mind — its value is object driven. Rose cuts offer a greater challenge in estimating weight once they have been mounted. Most rose cuts are in a closed back mounting making it nearly impossible to obtain a depth measurement. The standard formula for rose cuts, diameter 2 x depth x .0043, will not give you an accurate weight estimation because of the irregular shape and the difficulty in obtaining a depth measurement. What the formula does offer is a start toward a carat weight.
A View from the Director’s Chair
Peter Shemonsky, director of Jewelry, Butterfields, San Francisco, takes the viewpoint that there is always a section of the market buying wholesale/retail that is looking for something new and different.
Simon Teakle, director of jewelry, Christie’s, the Americas, sees a movement that started in the 1990’s when buying shifted from Middle Eastern dealers purchasing large size stones to “private buyers seeking smaller pieces with finer workmanship. They are seeking a more restrained look in jewelry.”
The clear answer to this quest is antique jewelry. “A lot of antique rose cut jewelry appeals by virtue of its design rather than carat weight. Well-designed wearable objects are what the market is looking for,” observes Teakle.
An important factor to keep in mind is that Georgian to Victorian rose cut diamond jewelry was made entirely by hand. None of the mechanical processes which emerged towards the end of the nineteenth century
had yet been discovered. As a consequence each jewel was individually made and bears evidence of each craftsman’s own technique, art and skill.
“Rose cut diamond jewelry has a lot of individuality, charm and character — the virtues that give it such positive aspects,” notes Teakle.
Trend or Fad?
“It’s fashion! As this industry knows, jewelry sales are fueled by fashion,” says Shemonsky. “Take a look at Asscher cut diamonds. A few years ago only the trade really understood them, now privates ask for them, too. They are currently cutting them again in Belgium.”
As if to emphasize this outlook, at the New York grand opening of London-based jeweler Graff, the impressive “Star of America,” 100.57 carat, D flawless Asscher cut diamond was unveiled.
Contemporary designers, such as Alex Sepkus and Aaron Basha, use newly manufactured rose cut diamonds in their collections. This has contributed to the interest in rose cut diamonds and the increased demand for jewelry with rose cut diamonds.
New Rose Cut Diamonds
Due to overall demand for rose cut diamonds and the lack of fresh material in the market, the prices have risen steadily in the auction market. When an antique rose cut diamond jewelry item comes to auction with a sizeable stone, it usually garners a good price since those in the trade usually have an anxious buyer — a designer or sophisticated private — waiting for such an item.
“No market operates in a vacuuum. With the increased demand for rose cut diamonds a need was created for more rose cuts,” states Michael Goldstein, principle of the New York-based firm bearing his name and a dealer in antique cut diamonds.
Primarily cut in India, the new rose cut diamonds can be distinguished from the antique equivalents by their thicker frosted girdles, round girdle outline, symmetry of facets, better color and clarity, and lack of abrasions.
Prices will continue to rise until the market is flooded with lower priced quality Indian goods. The fact that new stones are being cut does ensure the quality and cutting material.
“The one problem I see is in the Turkish jewelry
market where they have long been making Victorian style jewelry with rose cuts and selling it as old. With increased interest in these stones, more of
these reproductions will be entering the market,” says Shemonsky.
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Tags:
Belgium, Collections, Graff, India, Jewelry
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