Cartier
Brooch
circa 1930-40
(coral, diamond and enamelled gold)
Black in full bloom. The dismembered hand holding the flower’s stem adds a touch of mystery to this pairing. Rather than implying that the faceless giver is either female or male, the minuscule bracelets merely define the coral wearer's taste for strong, bold jewellery (which is perhaps ‘made’ by Cartier, too). Set against the hand’s pearly-pink skin, the jewellery acts as a marker of the entire piece’s delicacy of material and charm in detail. Though they might seem to be dwarfed by the big attention-seeking blossom overhead, the bracelets are in fact what tie the brooch’s ‘haute-couture’ image to a neat close.
However, the most striking feature of this brooch is, by opinion, the diamond acting as the flower’s face. The white sparkle of the gem interacts beautifully with the blackness engulfing it: one could say that with one grand and dramatic gesture the diamond has thrown back its dark cape to unmask its true identity, and that it now flaps its great many wings in an almost menacing, taunting show of power. But is this still as impressive a show as when the brooch finds itself pinned to a garment, one whose creases and constant sways threaten to interrupt its central performance? Maybe so - and this could explain why the diamond sometimes spares us a wink.
