Each designed as a stylised chandelier, composed of triangular-shaped diamonds, delicately-set with a bare-minimum of platinum, arranged to form geometric shapes, embellished with lines of baguette diamonds, 1920s, French assay marks for platinum, illegible maker's mark, unsigned. Total length of earring 8cm. Weight 7.4 grams each

Note: Whilst echoes of the proportions and style of these earrings can be found in the designs of the famous Parisian jewellery houses during the 1920s, these earrings are incredibly avant-garde for their period. 'Fancy-cuts' were new to the beginning of the 20th Century and being explored by a few houses by the mid 1920s, most obviously by Mauboussin, Van Cleef & Arpels, Lacloche Frères and Janesich, but no other example of their exclusive use can be found. The other surprising element is the setting of these stones, which are set in a revolutionary way, with a seeming lack of metal holding the central diamonds in place. This is a concept that was perfected around 1930 when a few of the large Parisian jewellery houses vied for the claim to have invented mystery or invisible settings for stones. In spirit, these earrings are a marriage of the Edwardian delicacy and love of centrally-placed swing-set designs using minimal metalwork, and the geometry that would so dominate the 1930s and symbolise what we now call Art Deco. They are the issue of a feverishly productive and innovative period in French craftsmanship and design, one that we still idolise and feels surprisingly relevant today.