Legendary Antiques Dealer Exhibits Stunning Mid-Century Jewelry

The selling exhibit places its emphasis on accessible, wearable mid-century pieces—those that reflect a cultural shift toward jewelry that’s subtle enough for the office and elegant enough for an evening soiree. “These pieces mean a lot to the people who buy them, but they don’t look like [they’re worth] a tremendous amount of money,” he says. “You don’t look at them with a dollar sign. You look at them because they’re fun designs.”

Deceptively Modern Jewelry features enough gold to make King Midas smile: a Cartier Paris gold triangular bracelet and necklace, George L’Enfant bracelets and earrings fashioned from linked discs and ovals of gold, and a striking circa 1940s “gas pipe” bracelet, to cite just three. Schaffer explains that wartime restrictions placed gold off-limits to jewelers. Once the restrictions were lifted, designers re-embraced the metal with gusto. “They had almost, in essence, forgotten the use of gold,” Schaffer says. “It was like a new material. It exploded on the market and people took advantage of it.”

Another well-represented trend of the era is for citrines, aquamarines, turquoise, coral, and similar materials that fit the emerging preference for jewelry that could multi-task. “Nobody wanted pieces that were all-diamonds,” he says. “People moved away from wearing their wealth on their sleeve to wanting [something they could] wear every day, all day. Coral, aquamarine, you can wear all day long and go to the opera at night.”

Ten of the pieces that A La Vieille Russie gathered for the show are exceptionally scarce signed works by Cartier—eight by Cartier Paris and two by Cartier London. A standout among the rarities is a Cartier Paris-signed yellow sapphire and diamond ring that looks like a blooming daisy or perhaps a streaking comet. “A baguette would make it just another yellow sapphire ring. What’s interesting about it is the way it’s mounted,” he says. “It’s bright and cheerful, with a magnificent sapphire at the center.”

Deceptively Modern Jewelry continues through November 15 at the A La Vieille Russie gallery, located at 745 Fifth Avenue, New York.