SANDOZ
Pair of niello and silver cufflinks, 1925
$ 12,500.00
Further images
Each square-shaped terminal embellished with a machine-inspired motif in niello and silver, signed Gérard Sandoz and numbered, circa 1925, with French assay marks for silver. Width: 1.3cm each panel. Total...
Each square-shaped terminal embellished with a machine-inspired motif in niello and silver, signed Gérard Sandoz and numbered, circa 1925, with French assay marks for silver. Width: 1.3cm each panel. Total weigh for pair: 8.47 grams
Notes: Gérard Sandoz was the product of two generations of renowned jeweller-horologists. However, whilst he completed studies in jewellery and goldsmith work, jewellery was but one of Gérard's artistic passions which also incorporated cinema, poster-design and Fine Art. Gérard Sandoz’s aesthetic sensibilities were beautiful symptoms of a man very much infected by the times in which he lived. His life was fast and not without excesses. He was passionate about racehorses, jazz and modern techniques in cinema, these milieus drew endless characters to him which he entertained lavishly. His tastes were uncompromisingly modern. He commissioned interior designer René Crevel to remodel the boutique in unmistakably geometric lines, creating one of the most talked-about shop fronts in red and black marble amongst the Louis XV traditions of rue Royale, and owned a Bugatti even though he could not drive. His adoration of modernity is never more clearly understood than when looking at his jewellery. His pieces display clean simple lines dedicated to aesthetics, rather than the wealth, in the materials used. Sandoz was inspired by many subjects the Modernists and Futurists held dear. His cigarette cases depicted sporting scenes such as boxing or skiing, jazz musicians transforming traditional music, Cubist-inspired street scenes and machine movements. As the glory of the period came crashing down in 1929 so did the Sandoz family boutique, it had already been bought by Georges Lenfant in 1927 but Gérard Sandoz had remained artistic director at the firm after his father’s retirement and Lenfant takeover, however his attention was already veering towards his other passions and he eventually left the business altogether to pursue his love of cinema and then abstract painting, leaving behind a short but electrifying legacy of revolutionary iconic jewels and objects that captured one of the most exciting and creative periods of European history.
Notes: Gérard Sandoz was the product of two generations of renowned jeweller-horologists. However, whilst he completed studies in jewellery and goldsmith work, jewellery was but one of Gérard's artistic passions which also incorporated cinema, poster-design and Fine Art. Gérard Sandoz’s aesthetic sensibilities were beautiful symptoms of a man very much infected by the times in which he lived. His life was fast and not without excesses. He was passionate about racehorses, jazz and modern techniques in cinema, these milieus drew endless characters to him which he entertained lavishly. His tastes were uncompromisingly modern. He commissioned interior designer René Crevel to remodel the boutique in unmistakably geometric lines, creating one of the most talked-about shop fronts in red and black marble amongst the Louis XV traditions of rue Royale, and owned a Bugatti even though he could not drive. His adoration of modernity is never more clearly understood than when looking at his jewellery. His pieces display clean simple lines dedicated to aesthetics, rather than the wealth, in the materials used. Sandoz was inspired by many subjects the Modernists and Futurists held dear. His cigarette cases depicted sporting scenes such as boxing or skiing, jazz musicians transforming traditional music, Cubist-inspired street scenes and machine movements. As the glory of the period came crashing down in 1929 so did the Sandoz family boutique, it had already been bought by Georges Lenfant in 1927 but Gérard Sandoz had remained artistic director at the firm after his father’s retirement and Lenfant takeover, however his attention was already veering towards his other passions and he eventually left the business altogether to pursue his love of cinema and then abstract painting, leaving behind a short but electrifying legacy of revolutionary iconic jewels and objects that captured one of the most exciting and creative periods of European history.
