Cartier Paris "Penelope" Necklace

This Cartier "Penelope" necklace centering a double C motif was created in Paris in the 1980s, and is composed of 18K gold. It is designed as three-rows of highly flexible chain mail mesh, made of overlapping layers of of interlocking circular and oval links, completed by a hidden, integrated clasp. Dense yet soft, this signature Cartier necklace is beloved for its fabric-like suppleness and its satisfying drape along the neckline.

Dimensions: 14.375" length, 0.625" width.
Materials: 32 round brilliant-cut diamonds (approximate total weight 0.75 carat, VS clarity and F/G color grade); 18K Gold
Gram Weight: 122.86
Signed: Cartier, 749873, maker's mark Ste L and French assay mark

The concept of jewelry worn almost as protective chain mail is an old one. While this beautifully-made gold version by Cartier reflects the 1980s era, when women integrated themselves more dynamically into positions of responsibility in government and business, neck ornaments as a protective talisman go back to the beginnings of art and symbolic thinking. Long before ancient forms of art like cave painting and fertility figurines, early people used necklaces, sometimes suspending talismans, both to adorn and protect themselves and their children, and to express who they were. Further, Cartier's choice of the name "Penelope" refers to the intricate weave of this necklace in multiple layers, and references the complex textile Odysseus' wife was weaving on her loom over the many years of her husband's absence. Like this Cartier chain's seamless and continuously flowing mesh, the textile Penelope wove as her armor against her unwanted suitors was described by Homer as "fine of thread", and "endless", gleaming "like the sun or the moon." Cartier's clever reference to chainmail's character throughout history - a heavy, fluid metallic textile that reflects light - perfectly characterizes this contemporary jewel that also radiates beauty, strength and protective power.