Object of the Day, Museum Edition: An Art Deco Platinum and Diamond Brooch, 1925

Brooch
Platinum and Diamonds
1925-1935
French
The Victoria & Albert Museum

King George V enjoyed giving little trinkets to his wife, Queen Mary, who always delighted in jewels and baubles. Mary was especially fond of diamond pieces which encouraged the play of light between the stones. This brooch, made in Europe between 1925 and 1935, is just the sort of thing that would have appealed to Mary of Teck.

Jewelry set only with diamonds has been created for centuries, however, the style really came into its own as it once again rose in prominence during the Art Deco period. During this creative era, jewelers experimented with various shapes and cuts of diamonds and devised new ways to fit them together.

This is the work of the jeweler Georges Fouquet who wrote in the Studio magazine in 1929, “But how new is this white stone jewellery, and how much it differs from the old... The wand-shaped brilliants give different reflections from the round ones, and the most varied play of light may be obtained by arranging them side by side.”