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SUMMARY:suzanne-belperron - Date de vente : 08/12/2025
DESCRIPTION:Nom du lots : Suzanne Belperron\n\nOf bib design\, featuring ov
 al-\, pear-shaped and cushion-cut pink topazes and morganites\, oval-\, pe
 ar- and half-moon-shaped aquamarines and marquise-\, pear-shaped\, old Eur
 opean-cut and round diamonds\, length approximately 14¼ inches\, unsigned
 \, with French assay marks\; 1966.\n\nAccompanied by Certificate of Authen
 ticity no. 251007g by Olivier Baroin dated October 7\, 2025 stating that t
 he piece was manufactured in September 1966.\n\nPatricia Corbett\, Ward La
 ndrigan and Nico Landrigan\, Jewelry by Suzanne Belperron\, London\, 2015\
 , p. 225 for an illustration of this necklace.\n\nBelperron had an intuiti
 ve sense of color and was said to select specific gemstones from trays ful
 l of candidates "because they winked at her." While many of the jewels in 
 the collection employ and all-white palette\, several pieces incorporate u
 nexpected yet harmonious color combinations. Belperron’s exploration of 
 contrasting colors is realized beautifully in lot 17\, an exquisite bib ne
 cklace set with a symphony of pinks and blues--morganites\, pink topazes a
 nd aquamarines--highlighted by old-cut diamonds. The other bib necklace in
  the collection\, and the one more readily identifiable as the work of Bel
 perron with its cabochon sapphires\, showcases subtle shifts in shade and 
 tone with in a single-color family (lot 11). She expanded this monochromat
 ic approach in the brooches offered as lots 32 and 10 by trimming aquamari
 nes and chalcedony with sapphires.\n\nLocation courtesy of M. Olivier Baro
 in\, Image #4.\n\nForever Modern\n\nSuzanne Belperron\n\nSuzanne Belperron
  (1900-1983)\, née Vuillerme\, was born in the village of Saint-Claude in
  the French Jura region to a family with ties to the area’s lapidary and
  watchmaking industries. Shortly after her birth\, Suzanne’s father too
 k a position in Bésançon and it was here\, at the age of 16\, she began 
 her training in watchmaking and jewelry decoration at the Écoles Municipa
 les de Musique et des Beaux-Arts. By this time her father had passed away
 \, and it was therefore highly fortuitous that the school was not only fre
 e but open to female students. She showed a natural facility for design an
 d draftsmanship\, and her surviving designs from this period exhibit hints
  of the sculptural and geometric qualities of her later work. In 1919 she
  moved to Paris where she was hired as a designer by the jewelry firm Ren
 é Boivin. Founded in 1893\, the company was a prominent and successful h
 ouse known for its innovative designs and cultured clientele. Upon René 
 Boivin’s death in 1917\, his widow Jeanne\, the sister of famed fashion 
 designer Paul Poiret\, took over as director and went on to lead the house
  through some of its most influential and prosperous years.\n\nBelperron
 ’s experience at the company was to have a profound impact upon her care
 er. Madame Boivin served as the young designer’s mentor as her style an
 d position advanced within the firm\, elevating her to the role of co-dire
 ctor in 1924. The house’s tendency to eschew advertising and its avoida
 nce of adding signatures—instead relying upon word-of-mouth and loyalty 
 to attract customers—are practices Belperron continued throughout her li
 fe. The Legacy of Elegance collection includes two jewels created during 
 Suzanne Belperron’s years at René Boivin. Lots 15 and 16\, two carved 
 rock crystal and diamond brooches made as early as 1928\, are masterful ex
 amples of Belperron’s work that incorporate the volume\, geometry and tr
 anslucency she would revisit throughout her career.\n\nIn 1932 Suzanne lef
 t René Boivin and began a collaboration with noted gemstone and pearl dea
 ler Bernard Herz. Belperron became the sole designer and director for the
  newly formed Maison Herz. The two opened a private salon on Rue de Châte
 audun that quickly began to attract discerning and prominent clients. Gro
 ëné & Darde\, a jewelry workshop owned by Maurice Groëné and Émile Da
 rde with whom she had worked while at René Boivin\, became her dedicated 
 manufacturers. Belperron’s jewels became constant fixtures in the fashi
 on press during the 1930s\, appearing frequently in publications such as V
 ogue and Harper’s Bazaar. Sometimes the jewels were attributed to Maiso
 n Herz\, but she was often credited as their designer\, an unprecedented d
 egree of recognition for a woman in the industry at that time. Always ext
 remely stylish and traveling in sophisticated circles\, she sometimes appe
 ared in the contemporary fashion press alongside her creations. Her high-
 profile clients included some of the most celebrated figures of the era\, 
 including Daisy Fellowes\, Mona Bismarck\, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor
 \, Ganna Walska\, Princess Agha Khan\, Adele Astaire and Diana Vreeland. 
 Despite her prominence\, she continued to decline to sign her jewelry\, ex
 plaining\, “My style is my signature.”\n\nThe year 1941 brought traged
 y to the firm when it was confiscated by the occupying Nazi government due
  to Bernard Herz’s Jewish origins. Belperron purchased the company hers
 elf\, with Herz’s assistance\, renaming it Suzanne Belperron. In 1943\,
  to her horror\, Bernard Herz was deported to Auschwitz and killed. When 
 Jean\, Bernard’s son\, was released from captivity in 1946\, she offered
  to return the company to the Herz family. In appreciation of her steward
 ship throughout the war and her indispensable talent\, Jean offered her a 
 partnership\, and the firm was renamed Herz-Belperron. It continued to at
 tract a loyal clientele in the post-war years\, adapting to changing style
 s. In 1963 Belperron was made a knight of the Legion of Honor for her con
 tributions to French jewelry design and manufacturing. She decided to ret
 ire in 1975\, though she continued to work on occasional projects until he
 r death in 1983.\n\nIn the late 1980s\, the heirs to the Maison Herz-Belpe
 rron sought a custodian who would preserve Belperron’s legacy with the s
 ame integrity that characterized her career. They approached Ward Landriga
 n—then owner of Verdura and formerly head of Sotheby’s Jewelry Departm
 ent in New York—who had gained international recognition for his careful
  stewardship of the Verdura archives. In 1999\, Landrigan acquired the ri
 ghts to the Belperron brand as well as an extensive archive of over 9\,300
  gouache designs and tracings\, wax models\, molds and inventory books. Th
 ese materials not only document her remarkable career and act as a critica
 l resource in authenticating her original creations\, but also serve as th
 e creative foundation for each jewel produced today. As the steward of the
  House of Belperron\, Nico Landrigan works with collectors and museums au
 thenticating the original work of Suzanne Belperron. The company lives on 
 in a beautiful salon located at 745 Fifth Avenue in New York City\, model
 ed on Suzanne Belperron’s own Paris apartment.\n\nWhile other jewelry ho
 uses have produced jewels that fall in-and-out of fashion\, the designs of
  Suzanne Belperron never look dated. For more than one hundred years\, he
 r signature style has never lost its edge.
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