Opal & The American Masters

Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933) was an accomplished artist, interior decorator and designer of decorative art objects. When he turned his hand to jewelry design his selection of stones was not part of the repertoire Tiffany & Co., his father Charles’ company, considered suitable for their clientele. Black Opals and Boulder Opals intrigued Louis and he made prolific use of these mysterious and mesmerising gemstones to the benefit of the newly emerging middle class.

In all of Tiffany’s Opal jewelry, the stone takes precedence over the mounting. The Black Opals displayed opposite are encircled by enameled vines and the Yowah Nut Opal is totally surrounded by leaves. The mountings are almost caressing the Opals to ensure they do not fall out. These settings are at once protective yet not such that the stones cannot be identified as natural and their reverse sides are just as intricately worked.

In 1899 Tully Wollaston sold his first parcel of cut Boulder Opal bound for the American trade. With the discovery of Lightning Ridge in 1902 Wollaston began travelling directly to the US in 1906. He and the New York converts helped spread the gospel of Black Opal and by 1910 it found steady and increasing sale.

Coloured stones came into vogue all over America and ‘street wear’ or ‘day’ jewelry became popular. Ladies began choosing the colours of the stones to match the colours of their dress.

Above: Black Opal beads,platinum and diamond on blue thread, Tiffany & Co. New York, c.1904 length: 71.5cm (16.3-6.3mm)Carved from one piece of Black Opal rough the quality of these beads remains unique to this day.

Pictured: Louis Comfort Tiffany

Above: Yowah Nut Opal enveloped in gold leaves; followed by several Black Opals in enameled vine-leaf settings.

J.E. Caldwell’s jewelry business dates back to 1839 and was known as ‘the’ jeweler for the Philadelphia Mainline establishment.

Left: This carved Black Opal pansy with a diamond center and stem (c.1920) is one of a series of floral pins, reflecting the socio-economic status of Caldwell’s clientele, who consisted primarily of married and conservative people.

‘Fantasy Ship’ brooch created for a family who loved to leisure in the activity of sailing; featuring an engraved boulder opal, pearls and diamonds, 1900.

Marcus & Co. of New York was established in 1892 by German immigrant Herman Marcus. Herman first worked for Tiffany and then Theodore B. Starr, establishing Starr & Marcus. In the 1920’s William Marcus opened Marcus & Co. branches in London, Paris and Palm Beach. Raymond C. Yard worked as door boy for Marcus & Co. before achieving recognition on his own.

“A distractingly beautiful gem and one of the  most difficult to use in design – most jewelers set Opals in plain mounts with little embellishment – the movement of the blues, greens, oranges and pinks in the stone itself provides a lot of excitement. Marcus added a level of complexity to this already complex stone” – Proddow & Fasel

Verdura’s is not ”hang a cheque around your neck” jewelry, his is witty and ultrasophisticated, shells set with precious stones, natural motifs and the most colourful of gemstones. His deployment of Opals was arguably de rigueur, the results however were enchanting and the stones most enlightened by his unorthodox style.

”No one can hold a candle to Verdura, there is so much erudition, taste and fantasy involved in each of the pieces.  The jewelry is not for insecure people and does not appeal to the herd instinct. Women who wear Verdura don’t want to look like every other person wearing their Van Cleef diamond flower pin, their Chanel suit and their Prada bag. It is the ultimate status symbol, recognized only by its initiates, who might wink at each other across a crowded room.” Says Amy Fine Collins, fashion writer for Vanity Fair.

Collins considers Verdura the 20th century’s best jewelry designer and the New York Times proclaimed Verdura ‘America’s Crown Jeweler’.

(Above) Opals are lavishly applied all around the pieces including their clasps.  A diamond-set floral and foliate motif frames the center stone and all the Opals are joined by chains of round and marquise cut diamonds. Although elaborately designed, Schepps does not attempt to contrast the multicolored Opals but merely to complement them with accent stones, whether those be diamonds or emeralds and sapphires (Right).

Commissions from many White House families led The Washington Post to dub him ‘America ’s Court Jeweller’.

His clients included Katherine Hepburn, the Duchess of Windsor, Doris Duke and Wanda Toscanini Horowitz. Andy Warhol was an avid collector of Schepps jewellery.

Above:Commissioned by S.Hallock du Pont this Black Opal ring in platinum with diamonds was made in 1970.

Although synonymous with diamonds, ‘Jeweller to the Stars’, Harry Winston has the distinction of being the benefactor of this majestic ‘Peacock’ brooch sporting a 30.92 carat Black Opal.

Designed by Carnevale and Koumrouyan and completed in 1967, this marvellous jewel is set in gold and platinum and accentuated with rubies, sapphires and emeralds.

The peacock is a recurring theme in Opal jewelry, particularly from the Art Nouveau period. This example, though reflective of its era, is timeless.

Above: This 36 carat Black Opal sublimely ‘flame’ patterned with masterful brushstrokes contrasts beautifully with the hand-rendered ‘Sabi’ textured yellow gold mounting. Distinctly Dunay!

Opposite: Black Opal pairs like these are exceptionally rare and exemplary of the style and good taste of a Master Jeweller with 60 years of experience in the jewelry industry.