Since the turn of the twentieth century, transformable jewels have been highly coveted, exemplifying master craftsmanship and technical innovation while offering exciting versatility and allowing the wearer to alter one piece into various styles for different occasions. At the turn of the century, elegant gem-set tiaras were designed to be disassembled, and the elements could be converted into brooches, bracelets or necklaces. With increased demand for multi-functional jewels, high jewelry houses continued innovating new designs and techniques. In the 1930s and 1940s, Chaumet created an extravagant epaulette that could be worn as a bandeau or divided into multiple clip-brooches. By the 1950s, Van Cleef & Arpels debuted the iconic ‘Zip’ necklace, which functioned as an actual bejeweled zipper and could be transformed into a bracelet.

The Retro period also brought about the popular tubogas or gas-pipe link, where interlocking gold strips were wrapped tightly together to create a flexible and hollow tubular chain. This innovation was used by various jewelry designers and houses and furthered the development of convertible jewelry such as the ‘Passe-Partout’ necklace by Van Cleef & Arpels. The ‘Passe-Partout’ could be worn as a single or double strand necklace, wrapped four times to become a bracelet, or disassembled and worn as two separate floral brooches.

This Retro Cartier necklace exemplifies the height of transformable jewelry during this period and illustrates Cartier’s skill of transforming the popular naturalistic and floral motifs of the time into striking jewels. Their fine workmanship and the selection of superior quality gemstones, despite the scarcity of materials following World War II, demonstrates Cartier’s discerning eye, innovative designs and distinguished reputation as a master jeweler.