BEGIN:VCALENDAR PRODID:-//eluceo/ical//2.0/EN VERSION:2.0 CALSCALE:GREGORIAN BEGIN:VEVENT UID:53c5a958acdbd1bd68124ed2e2517150 DTSTAMP:20260404T062631Z SUMMARY:suzanne-belperron - Date de vente : 08/12/2025 DESCRIPTION:Nom du lots : Suzanne Belperron\n\nComposed of five pendants in the form of fuchsia flowerheads\, set with round\, old European-and singl e-cut diamonds\, with stems and articulated stamens set with baguette diam onds\, accompanied by a gold U-shaped necklace element\, with partial work shop marks for Groëné et Darde\; pendants 1949\, necklace element 1972.\ n\nAccompanied by an original tracing by Suzanne Belperron depicting the p endants.\n\nAccompanied by Certificate of Authenticity no. 251007w by Oliv er Baroin dated October 7\, 2025 stating that Groëné et Darde manufactur ed the pendants as brooches in December 1949 and that the pinstems were re moved as part of a conversion project in 1972.\n\nAccompanied by Certifica te of Authenticity no. 251007x by Oliver Baroin dated October 7\, 2025 sta ting that the necklace element was designed and likely manufactured in 197 2.\n\nPatricia Corbett\, Ward Landrigan and Nico Landrigan\, Jewelry by Su zanne Belperron\, London\, 2015\, p. 215 for photograph of these pendants laid over the necklace element along with the original tracing by Suzanne Belperron.\n\nSuzanne Belperron’s fondness for botanical motifs is not u nusual for a jeweler\, but her interpretations of them were idiosyncratic\ , modern and highly innovative. She pared them down to their essential ou tlines or simplified them\, sometimes to the point of abstraction. A chal cedony and diamond clip-brooch depicting a stylized bunch of grapes (lot 3 9) has the spare\, monumental quality of a piece of modern sculpture. She also created a number of jewels based on leaves and branches. Lots 10 an d 38\, composed of chalcedony and diamond\, and gold and jade respectively \, are realistic\, albeit streamlined\, representations of plant motifs.  Later in her career Belperron began to incorporate a greater number of tra nsparent\, faceted gemstones\, as seen in the pair of sapphire and diamond ‘Branche’ clip-brooches (lot 32). Here\, solidity and volume are rep laced with sinuous and flattened forms\, the optical properties of the gem stones projecting a lightness that marks a distinct progression of her sty le.\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 watchmakin g industries. Shortly after her birth\, Suzanne’s father took a positio n in Bésançon and it was here\, at the age of 16\, she began her trainin g in watchmaking and jewelry decoration at the Écoles Municipales de Musi que et des Beaux-Arts. By this time her father had passed away\, and it w as therefore highly fortuitous that the school was not only free but open to female students. She showed a natural facility for design and draftsman ship\, and her surviving designs from this period exhibit hints of the scu lptural and geometric qualities of her later work. In 1919 she moved to P aris where she was hired as a designer by the jewelry firm René Boivin.  Founded in 1893\, the company was a prominent and successful house known f or its innovative designs and cultured clientele. Upon René Boivin’s d eath in 1917\, his widow Jeanne\, the sister of famed fashion designer Pau l Poiret\, took over as director and went on to lead the house through som e of its most influential and prosperous years.\n\nBelperron’s experienc e at the company was to have a profound impact upon her career. Madame Bo ivin served as the young designer’s mentor as her style and position adv anced within the firm\, elevating her to the role of co-director in 1924.  The house’s tendency to eschew advertising and its avoidance of adding signatures—instead relying upon word-of-mouth and loyalty to attract cu stomers—are practices Belperron continued throughout her life. The Lega cy of Elegance collection includes two jewels created during Suzanne Belpe rron’s years at René Boivin. Lots 15 and 16\, two carved rock crystal and diamond brooches made as early as 1928\, are masterful examples of Bel perron’s work that incorporate the volume\, geometry and translucency sh e would revisit throughout her career.\n\nIn 1932 Suzanne left René Boivi n and began a collaboration with noted gemstone and pearl dealer Bernard H erz. Belperron became the sole designer and director for the newly formed Maison Herz. The two opened a private salon on Rue de Châteaudun that qu ickly began to attract discerning and prominent clients. Groëné & Darde \, a jewelry workshop owned by Maurice Groëné and Émile Darde with whom she had worked while at René Boivin\, became her dedicated manufacturers . Belperron’s jewels became constant fixtures in the fashion press duri ng the 1930s\, appearing frequently in publications such as Vogue and Harp er’s Bazaar. Sometimes the jewels were attributed to Maison Herz\, but she was often credited as their designer\, an unprecedented degree of reco gnition for a woman in the industry at that time. Always extremely stylis h and traveling in sophisticated circles\, she sometimes appeared in the c ontemporary fashion press alongside her creations. Her high-profile clien ts included some of the most celebrated figures of the era\, including Dai sy Fellowes\, Mona Bismarck\, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor\, Ganna Wals ka\, Princess Agha Khan\, Adele Astaire and Diana Vreeland. Despite her p rominence\, she continued to decline to sign her jewelry\, explaining\, “My style is my signature.”\n\nThe year 1941 brought tragedy to the fi rm when it was confiscated by the occupying Nazi government due to Bernard Herz’s Jewish origins. Belperron purchased the company herself\, with Herz’s assistance\, renaming it Suzanne Belperron. In 1943\, to her hor ror\, Bernard Herz was deported to Auschwitz and killed. When Jean\, Bern ard’s son\, was released from captivity in 1946\, she offered to return the company to the Herz family. In appreciation of her stewardship throug hout the war and her indispensable talent\, Jean offered her a partnership \, and the firm was renamed Herz-Belperron. It continued to attract a loy al clientele in the post-war years\, adapting to changing styles. In 1963 Belperron was made a knight of the Legion of Honor for her contributions to French jewelry design and manufacturing. She decided to retire in 1975 \, though she continued to work on occasional projects until her death in 1983.\n\nIn the late 1980s\, the heirs to the Maison Herz-Belperron sought a custodian who would preserve Belperron’s legacy with the same integri ty that characterized her career. They approached Ward Landrigan—then ow ner of Verdura and formerly head of Sotheby’s Jewelry Department in New York—who had gained international recognition for his careful stewardshi p of the Verdura archives. In 1999\, Landrigan acquired the rights to the Belperron brand as well as an extensive archive of over 9\,300 gouache de signs and tracings\, wax models\, molds and inventory books. These materia ls not only document her remarkable career and act as a critical resource in authenticating her original creations\, but also serve as the creative foundation for each jewel produced today. As the steward of the House of B elperron\, Nico Landrigan works with collectors and museums authenticatin g the original work of Suzanne Belperron. The company lives on in a beauti ful salon located at 745 Fifth Avenue in New York City\, modeled on Suzan ne Belperron’s own Paris apartment.\n\nWhile other jewelry houses have p roduced jewels that fall in-and-out of fashion\, the designs of Suzanne Be lperron never look dated. For more than one hundred years\, her signature style has never lost its edge. DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251208 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR