Arts & Crafts Necklace with Gemma of Mars in Labradorite, Around 1910

In the first decade of the 20th century, we suddenly find numerous designs that surprise with materials that had hardly been used until then. Especially unusual semi-precious stones and minerals were particularly appreciated by jewelry designers in the years shortly after the turn of the century. 

In this necklace of the years around 1910, there are five cameos whose extraordinary colorfulness draws the eye: With a dark base color, they appear slightly greenish or electric blue, depending on the incidence of light. 

The material is labradorite, a mineral that has only been mined on the Labrador Peninsula since 1770. 

The effect of the labradorite is heightened by the plastically carved form of the gems; in part it appears as if the cameos glow from within, in part the material's lamellar structure makes it appear as iridescent as the wing of a morpho butterfly.

The cameos, which are connected with silver chains and swing on so-called "knife wires", all show the Roman god of war Mars. 

Possibly there is a political statement to be understood in this necklace, which is designed as women's jewelry: For the early years of the 20th century were the time of the suffragettes, those women who, through their courageous and energetic efforts, not only gained the right to vote on an equal footing with men, but also laid the foundations for today's women's rights. The lady who once wore the necklace will have been progressive anyway; the reduced formal language and choice of materials alone indicate that the necklace is a product of the Arts & Crafts movement, which also had a reforming effect on art.

All measurements were done in the mounting as allowed by an independent, GIA-trained gemologist and are approximate when noted.

Some of our items are accompanied by a lab report, but not all. It will be clearly stated if there is a report with a particular item. We do not go out of our way to remove diamonds from their settings to obtain GIA reports unless we feel it is absolutely necessary as we like to maintain the original quality of our pieces. We guarantee our grading and grade our diamonds according to GIA standards. All our diamond grading is done by GIA graduate gemologists and at least two gemologists look at each piece. 

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