Antique Tiffany & Co. Natural Pearl and Diamond Brooch

Created by Tiffany & Co. circa 1895, this platinum-topped 18K gold brooch is set with natural pearls and diamonds. The delicate floral form is set with six rose, silver, and lavender tinted natural pearls among scrolling diamond petals. Dating from the period when Paulding Farnham was chief designer of Tiffany & Co.'s jewelry department, this brooch is infused with the artistic aesthetic of one of the firm's most celebrated periods.

Dimensions: 1.125" diameter.
Materials: 6 natural pearls; 55 old mine and old European-cut diamonds (approximate total weight 1.85 carats); Platinum-topped 18K Gold
Gram Weight: 10.8 g.
Signed: TIFFANY & CO 1895 G to E, numbered 2077

Natural pearls of various delicate colors featured in Tiffany & Co.'s jewelry in the 1890s. Several examples of Paulding Farnham pendant brooches set with such pearls are featured in work attributed to him, surviving as jewels and designs in the Tiffany Archives and other collections. These pearls were sourced not only from traditional salt water beds but also from freshwater beds of American rivers. American freshwater pearls, while often thought of as baroque in form, also appeared in round and off-round shapes, and could possess the high satin luster of natural ocean pearls. As evidence of the high quality of these American freshwater varieties, Empress Eugenie purchased 'The Queen Pearl", discovered by an occasional fisherman near Paterson, New Jersey, in the North Brook, and retailed by Tiffany. Tiffany sold another pearl drawn from this brook, a magnificent 93 grain pink. A rush of chaotic bounty hunters and a short-sighted failure of stewardship soon exhausted the American pearl finds both in New Jersey and the Mid West.