Hollywood glamour to leave you trembling
Ireland’s Fine Arts, antiques and collectables column
DIAMONDS sparkle. It’s kind of their thing. The jewellers call it scintillation which, according to the American Gem Society is “the play of white and coloured flashes of light seen when the diamond is viewed in motion”. It’s a difficult thing to measure because it requires two key conditions. The first, obviously enough, is light. Nothing sparkles in the dark. The second is movement. For scintillation to happen, either the diamond, or the observer, or the source of light must move. That’s the principle behind Fernando Jorge’s Disco Ball earrings, worn by Saoirse Ronan at the 29th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Film Awards Gala in January. The earrings have flexible spines so that they moved when she did and are named for a disco ball which, Jorge says, “without movement or light, does nothing”. Good point. A pair of these sparklers would set you back around €46,743! More affordable options include original antique pieces. Adam’s next sale of Fine Jewellery and Watches, which takes place on September 18, includes a collection of “trembling jewellery” dating from the 19th century. Lower estimates range from €1,500 to €20,000. That’s a lot cheaper than the Disco Ball earrings. The technique evolved in the 18th century, when squeezing the maximum scintillation from a diamond could be a challenge. Gemcutting techniques weren’t what they are now, and diamonds were mostly worn in candlelight. That’s soft and not very sparkly. Then, in the ateliers of Paris, a new type of jewellery emerged. Diamond brooches, often made in the shape of flowers, were made with parts mounted on wire-coiled springs. They quivered with the movement of the wearer. This type of jewellery was known as en tremblant, which translates as “trembling”. Trembling jewellery came from Paris but soon caught on in London. This was the era of international exhibitions, most famously the Great Exhibition (1850), which encouraged the exchange (and theft) of ideas. Often, trembling jewellery took the shape of corsage ornaments; brooches designed to be worn on the bodice. Some were spectacularly large but could also be dismantled into smaller pieces. “I’m really careful not to take too many pieces off at once,” says Claire Mestrallet of Adam’s, carefully removing a flower. “I’d be scared to remember which one goes where.” She flips the flower over to show how, separated from the rest of the ornament, it has become a stand-alone brooch. In its entirety, the trailing ornament is 26cm long (est €4,000 to €6,000). Mestrallet feels that contemporary market for trembling jewellery is probably among collectors who will keep it for display. The most valuable piece of trembling jewellery in the sale is catalogued as “an impressive late 19th-century flower corsage ornament brooch” (est €20,000 to €30,000) but, as Mestrallet points out, the most expensive piece isn’t always the best. Trembling jewellery had another moment in the 1960s when Bulgari revived the genre. Film stars loved them. Ingrid Bergman wore one as a tiara in The Visit (1964) and Elizabeth Taylor owned several, including an emerald and diamond flower brooch, mounted en tremblant in platinum. That one set the auctioneer’s hammer trembling when it sold for $1.5m (€1.3m) at Christie’s, New York, in 2011. See adams.ie.