Costume choker
Creation details
This Costume choker reflects the new looks emerging at the end of the 1930s as well as the appearance of the Modernist current within Van Cleef & Arpels’ own creations. The first unusual thing about this piece is its form.
The choker refers to something decorative worn around the middle of the neck, rather than at the base as with most necklaces. Another singularity is the strip of blue leather in this piece, a material rarely used in jewelry. Rectangular tiered motifs in osmior are arranged around the leather strip, enhanced with black enamel to highlight their geometry. Each rectangle ends in a sapphire cabochon disguising a rivet that retains a semi-circular decorative element in rock crystal.
Modernist jewelry
This necklace is part of a large series of chokers, all produced in 1930. These pieces afforded a wide range of geometric forms, echoed by the chromatic variety of ornamental stones; their motifs were principally in yellow gold set with ruby cabochons. Color and volume were two major preoccupations of the jewelers of the Union des artistes modernes. In their reassessment of the jewelry profession, they insisted upon its artistic aspect: “To be a jewelry designer, one must be part painter, part sculptor, and even part architect.”1Raymond Templier, “L’art de notre temps,” Revue de la Chambre syndicale de la bijouterie, de la joaillerie, de l’orfèvrerie de Paris et des industries qui s’y rattachent (Review of the trade union of Parisian jewelers, goldsmiths, and associated industries) (1928):15.
Costume jewels
This esthetic revolution took place against the background of the stock market crash in October 19292Anonymous, “La situation économique au début de 1930,” Revue de la Chambre syndicale de la bijouterie, de la joaillerie, de l’orfèvrerie de Paris et des industries qui s’y rattachent, (1929): 13. that totally disrupted the world economy, notably the provision of noble and precious materials. This phenomenon motivated artists, who had to be highly inventive in order to adapt. From then on, the term “costume” came into its own in the world of jewelry, as did the use of less costly materials like leather, osmior, and ornamental stones.
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