Pearl and Diamond Necklace with Fernand Paillet (Attributed) Enameled Watch Pendant
$19,500
This exquisite French Belle Époque pendant necklace comprises a diamond and platinum chain suspending a watch of gold decorated in polychrome enamel, with a neoclassical miniature attributed to Fernand Paillet. The watch case’s front depicts the Aphrodite, her son Eros, and two Erotes in blue, cream and white enamel, framed by rose-cut diamonds and split seed pearls, interspersed with rings of polychrome enamel floral and foliate motifs; the reverse has a circular dial with Arabic numeral indicators in a conforming enamel surround. Suspended from a fancy-link platinum chain of great delicacy, highlighted by geometric scrolling elements and old European-cut diamonds, this sophisticated watch expresses the elegance and refinement of Belle Époque arts and sensibility.
- Product Details
- Curator's Notes
Item #: PT-18660
Artist: Unsigned, enamel miniature of this piece attributed to Fernand Paillet
Circa: 1910
Size: 25” length; 1.50” diameter (watch)
Materials: 26 Old European-cut diamonds (approximate total weight 1.05 carats); 70 Rose-cut diamonds (approximate total weight 0.70 carat); 26 Split seed pearls; Spherical seed pearl; Polychrome enamel; Platinum; 18K Gold
Literature: Similar watch necklace is pictured in Boucheron Le Joaillier Du Temps, by Gilles Neret, Conti, 1992, p. 50
Fernand Paillet’s work was eagerly sought-after, not only in watch cases designed by Verger Frères, one of the great names in Parisian watch making, but as the celebrated miniaturist for Boucheron Paris, and portrait painter of the artistic elite, such as the author Edith Wharton.