French Early 20th Century Emerald & Diamond Flowers Bracelet

A delicate and utterly beautiful articulatedIn jewellery, an articulated piece is composed of segments with flexible connections. bracelet that was made circa 1900-1910. It is 18ct75% pure gold (or 750 parts pure gold and 250 parts other metals) gold and platinumDerives from the Spanish word ‘platina’ meaning ‘little silver’. Acknowledged since the 1900s, platinum’s durability and natural brightness has been and still is today highly treasured A metallic element prized for its rarity, whiteness, high tensile strength and insusceptibility to corrosion, platinum first became widely used in jewellery in the late ninete… and has been set with calibre cutTypically small, fancy-cut faceted stones in the shape of rectangles, squares, oblongs or other specialty shapes cut to fit very closely together in a setting to create a design that often outlines or accents a larger motif. Calibre-cut comes from the word calibration which means to divide or mark with gradations. This style of stone cutting was made popular… emeralds and diamonds. The sides have been engraved with scroll motifs. It has a secure tongue clasp, a hinged catch and a safety chainA small chain applied to a piece of jewellery with the purpose of adding additional security to prevent loss. On bracelets and necklaces a safety chain will often join the clasp ends should the clasp fail. On a brooch it is often attached to a small pin which is to be used in tandem with the main brooch pin. for extra security.

The contrast of the 18ct yellow gold articulated emeraldOne of the four ‘precious’ stones. An intense, deep green is the most desirable colour for emeralds. Flaws and cloudiness (‘jardin’) are very common in emeralds, so stones are often oiled, irradiated, and dyed to improve their look. Synthetic emeralds have fewer imperfections and are hard to set apart from natural stones. Emeralds belong to the beryl… sections and the delicate platinum flowers set with diamonds is unusual and when worn looks fantastic.