Sven Boltenstern (Austrian, 1932–2019), Necklace, Bracelet, and Earrings, mid-1970s, gold, diamonds

Audio Description

This matching gold and diamond necklace, bracelet and earring set was made in the mid-1970s by Austrian jeweler Sven Boltenstern who lived from 1932–2019.

All the pieces in this set are made of yellow gold and are textured over their entire surface. The texture resembles rivulets of water made of squiggly lines of gold. The necklace and bracelet have a single strand of gold that protrude downward from the close-set texture. The necklace is narrow at the back and convex overall. It becomes wider as the shape moves toward the center front where it comes to a point and forms a triangle shape. The bracelet is similarly shaped with the triangular point at the center front. The clip-on earrings are rounded at the bottom, forming teardrop shapes. The whole set is randomly sprinkled with small, faceted diamonds.

Label Copy

This matching gold and diamond necklace, bracelet and earring set was made in the mid-1970s by Austrian jeweler Sven Boltenstern who lived from 1932–2019.

Sven Boltenstern was adamant that he was an artist. He wanted his work to be reviewed by art critics, not by society writers. A native of Vienna, he began his formal training as a goldsmith in the early 1950s, working in Paris and Austria, showing his pieces alongside the jewelry of established artists such as Georges Braque and Alexander Calder.

Boltenstern’s jewelry was regularly defined as sculpture to wear. Sources of inspiration were endless: the art of the Rococo and Biedermeier eras, the Jugendstil movement, and Egyptian art copied as a boy at the Louvre. But nature remained Boltenstern’s primary focus. This parure or set, consisting of a necklace, bracelet, and earrings, is evocative of liquid gold. The impulse might have come from seeing the delicate roots of a plant or rivulets of water. The rippled surface of the work conveys Boltenstern’s desire for his jewelry to be touched.

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