Chaumet (French, est. 1780), Necklace, circa 1970, gold, lapis lazuli, coral

Audio Description

Designed by French jewelry house Chaumet, which was established in 1780, this necklace was designed and manufactured around 1970.

A long necklace, this piece alternates dark blue, round lapis lazuli beads, round coral beads carved with a floral design, and long, textured gold links. The pendant has a tassel made up of round coral beads, a round collar of textured gold, ending with a dark blue, round lapis lazuli bead. The tassel has a textured gold cap at the top.

Label Copy

Designed by French jewelry house Chaumet, which was established in 1780, this necklace was designed and manufactured around 1970.  

Founded in the late eighteenth century in Paris, Chaumet was established on the Place Vendôme by the early nineteenth century. A bastion of fine traditional jewelry, it serviced French elites such as Napoléon Bonaparte and Empress Joséphine, royalty from other European nations, American notables, including members of the Vanderbilt family, and Asian nobility. By the mid-twentieth century, however, Chaumet recognized the burgeoning youth culture and heard the demand for more experimental jewelry. The company produced adventurous designs while still maintaining its stature of exclusivity.

Constructed like the sautoirs or long necklaces of the 1920s, this example can be taken apart and reassembled into various-length pieces by turning the barrel-shaped gold links between the colorful beads. The carved coral is the most traditional aspect of this adaptable necklace. Perhaps those beads migrated from an earlier piece of jewelry that was taken apart or are included to straddle convention and modernity.

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