Lot Essay
US$400,000-625,000
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Lot X is an extraordinary necklace of 518.23 carats consisting only of rare round to near round non-nacreous white pearls - the first of its kind ever offered for sale. White non-nacreous pearls are uncommon in the world of pearls; they can exhibit all possible shapes and can come in sizes of up to several hundred carats. Such pearls above a few carats are usually not perfectly symmetrical and generally large pearls are rather irregularly shaped. In this necklace, the pearls are all round to near round, weigh in average more than 16 carats, are graduated perfectly and are crowned by an extraordinary round pearl of 19 mm. The importance of this graduated strand of such exceptional un-worked pearls is evident when keeping in mind that an un-worked round non-nacreous white pearl by itself is a great rarity.
Non-nacreous pearls of any colour can exhibit another important feature which adds to their rarity and beauty - the flame pattern. This pattern is caused by the fibrous nature of the aragonite and the arrangement of these tiny aragonite fibres, depending on the size, thickness and arrangement of the fibres, the flame pattern can be microscopically and macroscopically absent, microscopically visible or visible to the naked eye. In the best pearls the flame pattern is obvious to the eye and distributed all over the pearls' surface. White non-nacreous pearls show the entire range of flame pattern qualities and the best motifs can usually be found on smaller pieces while the large pearls often lack the obvious eye-visible flame pattern. In this necklace all with the exception of one of the smallest pearls of the necklace exhibit this characteristic flame pattern. In 24 of the 31 pearls this flame pattern was found to be eye-visible over practically the entire surface and to be fine to extraordinarily fine. Assembling such a collection of non-nacreous natural pearls of this quality represents an exceptional treasure.
A NATURAL PEARL AND DIAMOND NECKLACE
Details
A NATURAL PEARL AND DIAMOND NECKLACE
Comprising thirty-one white round natural pearls measuring approximately 9.8 to 19.0 mm, spaced by white and grey seed pearls, each flanked by brilliant-cut diamond roundels, terminating in a cream natural pearl drop measuring 9.8 x 9.9 mm and a grey natural pearl drop measuring 9.4 x 9.4 mm, joined by a cushion-shaped diamond bail, within a brilliant-cut diamond surround, mounted in 18k white and oxidized gold, 63.0 cm long
Accompanied by report no. 59541 dated 14 June 2011 from the SSEF Swiss Gemmological Institute stating that the analysed properties confirm the authenticity of these thirty-one non-nacreous saltwater natural pearls from a marine mollusc; also accompanied by an appendix stating that the thirty-one natural pearls possess extraordinary characteristics and merit special mention and appreciation. The described pearls exhibit a matching shape. They are regularly graduated in size, with the central pearl showing an impressive diameter. They show a matching colour subtly varying from white to slightly cream and partly with a fine to distinct flame structure. The natural pearls are all non-nacreous. They were thus formed in a mollusc that produces no mother-of-pearl, but forms a shell consisting of densely interwoven tiny calcium-carbonate fibres. It is this fine texture of fibres, which leads to the delicate flame-type structures that can be seen on most of these pearls. In many of the pearls, the flame structure radiates from a central spot at the top of the pearl. This results in a very attractive reflection effect similar to chatoyancy (cat's eye effect), combined in few pearls with overtones of iridescence colours. The combination of trace elements found in these pearls is characteristic for non-nacreous pearls originating from saltwater molluscs. Assembling such a collection of non-nacreous natural pearls of this quality represents an exceptional treasure
Report no. 17479833 dated 25 August 2008 from the Gemological Institute of America stating that two pearls are natural saltwater. The tested pearls show no indication of treatment
Comprising thirty-one white round natural pearls measuring approximately 9.8 to 19.0 mm, spaced by white and grey seed pearls, each flanked by brilliant-cut diamond roundels, terminating in a cream natural pearl drop measuring 9.8 x 9.9 mm and a grey natural pearl drop measuring 9.4 x 9.4 mm, joined by a cushion-shaped diamond bail, within a brilliant-cut diamond surround, mounted in 18k white and oxidized gold, 63.0 cm long
Accompanied by report no. 59541 dated 14 June 2011 from the SSEF Swiss Gemmological Institute stating that the analysed properties confirm the authenticity of these thirty-one non-nacreous saltwater natural pearls from a marine mollusc; also accompanied by an appendix stating that the thirty-one natural pearls possess extraordinary characteristics and merit special mention and appreciation. The described pearls exhibit a matching shape. They are regularly graduated in size, with the central pearl showing an impressive diameter. They show a matching colour subtly varying from white to slightly cream and partly with a fine to distinct flame structure. The natural pearls are all non-nacreous. They were thus formed in a mollusc that produces no mother-of-pearl, but forms a shell consisting of densely interwoven tiny calcium-carbonate fibres. It is this fine texture of fibres, which leads to the delicate flame-type structures that can be seen on most of these pearls. In many of the pearls, the flame structure radiates from a central spot at the top of the pearl. This results in a very attractive reflection effect similar to chatoyancy (cat's eye effect), combined in few pearls with overtones of iridescence colours. The combination of trace elements found in these pearls is characteristic for non-nacreous pearls originating from saltwater molluscs. Assembling such a collection of non-nacreous natural pearls of this quality represents an exceptional treasure
Report no. 17479833 dated 25 August 2008 from the Gemological Institute of America stating that two pearls are natural saltwater. The tested pearls show no indication of treatment
Brought to you by
Ellen Mok
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