HALF-OFF PRICE Rare Early Schiaparelli Set Black Enamel & Aqua Crystals

  
This Elsa Schiaparelli very rare early set is HALF OFF ITS ORIGINAL PRICE for a limited time. Also open to reasonable offers, don't miss this chance to own this! You may not see anything like it for a long, long time. "Something old" is still "something new", to paraphrase a famous rhyme. In the case of our very rare Schiaparelli 1930s demi, we could even go a bit further and declare that this something old is still very avant grade, and may stay that way, well, forever.

Our bangle bracelet and brooch set has a minimalist, modernist aesthetics. With its bubble-look silhouette and spare, 3-D focal points, it looks as contemporary as some of today's jewelry, and more forward looking than a lot of them.

It also looks luxurious and classy, not flamboyant nor "outré" like some of "Schiap" pieces (personally, I always thought that this Schiaparelli design is in the same league as Coco Chanel's Maltese Cross cuff). Showcasing flowers made of aquamarine glass crystals on glossy black enamel with gilt trim, this design is an iconic one from the 1930s, with the bangle bracelet stamped with the designer's earliest known logo, "schiaparelli" in lower case. A similar demi is featured in author Ginger Moro's "European Designer Jewelry", with the same bubbly black enameled metal but with moonstone cabochons and gilt leaves as accents. Moro's book did not specify the designer for the featured set; probably the same designer as ours. Finding any piece of jewelry from this early period of Schiaparelli is almost an impossibility these days, let alone finding a set! We can't even believe our luck. A lot of Schiap jewelry from this period are in private collections or museums. Both pieces have a similar bubble look or very convex silhouette enameled a glossy black, with thin gilt trim on sides.

The centerpiece for either one is a peek-a-boo flower with six petals. It is made of pale blue aquamarine crystals, faceted to the hilt, and set into raised gilt bezels.

The raised setting gives depth to the flower, and the open setting for the stones bring out the crystals' maximum glitz. The flower centerpiece measures 1 3/4" x 1 1/4". The flower centerpiece is on the front part of the bangle bracelet, which has a bulgy oval shape. Its girth is 6 1/2.

It is hinged on one side, and has a push-in clasp on the opposite side. It also has a safety chain. The bracelet is about 1 1/2 wide. The brooch has the same bulging profile as the bangle - as if it was chopped off the bangle, on the portion that has the aquamarine flower!

From the top, it looks like an oval with elongated sides. It is about 3" x 1 3/8" (slightly less wide than the bangle). The top portion of the brooch rises to about an inch from the base. It has a locking c-clasp closure.

Only the bracelet is marked, schiaparelli in lower case, with blocky letters that have thick-and-thin portions. According to Moro's book, this is the designer's known logo in the 1930s.

Before this period, her pieces were unsigned. The brooch is not marked, but is 100 percent identical in design to the bangle. The design is famous as a Schiaparelli, so its pedigree is well established. Our demi is in overall excellent condition. The enameling is still glossy, and unbelievably intact, with minimal scuffs.

The glass aquamarine crystals are in fantastic shape, with no visible chips. The gilt metal bezels around the stones are rich in hue. The inside of the bracelet shows patina, but this does not show up when the bracelet is worn. The base of the brooch is as close to new, bright and shiny and rich in hue.