Art Deco Gold, Citrine, and Diamond Bracelet by Cartier, New York, circa 1938

Literature

Young-Sánchez, Margaret, et. al. Cartier in the 20th Century. New York: The Vendome Press, 2014, p. 194.

Exhibitions

Brilliant: Cartier in the 20th Century, Denver Art Museum, Denver, October 15, 2014–January 31, 2015.

Biography

Cartier was founded in Paris in 1847 by Louis-François Cartier. His three grandsons, Louis, Pierre, and Jacques, built the house into a famous international jewelry empire serving royalty, Hollywood stars, and socialites. Cartier has created some of the most important jewelry and objects of art of the twentieth century with many iconic designs such as mystery clocks, Tutti Frutti jewelry and the Panthère line. In 1983, The Cartier Collection was established with the objective of acquiring important pieces that trace the firm's artistic evolution. Today, Cartier has 200 stores in 125 countries.

Significance

Due to its deep, golden colors, the citrine in this bangle was probably described as topaz when the jewel was made. In the late 1930s, this was regarded as the most fashionable gemstone. According to Judy Rudoe in Cartier 1900–1939, topaz played an important role in
Cartier’s jewelry from the 1930s. She continued to explain, “The confusion between topaz and yellow quartz has a long history: all yellow stones have traditionally been described as topaz, although many of them are in fact yellow quartz or citrine.”

Citrine is a golden yellow to orange gem variety of quartz. The name comes from the French citron, meaning lemon, in reference to its luminous lemon color, ranging from light yellow to golden brown. Citrine is colored by impurities of iron with the value of the stone determined by clarity and attractiveness of their colors. Quartz of yellow and golden brown to orange, as on this bangle, is rare. I’In this piece the large citrine is set into a gold mount accented with diamond-set scrolls on either side; the diamonds soften the dramatic color of the citrines.

Vogue featured Cartier citrine jewelry on the cover of the August 1, 1938, issue. The illustrated earrings, necklace, ring, and bracelet are all set with similarly colored citrines as the gemstones on this bangle. Cartier also created a tiara in their London workshops with citrines and topaz with a 62.35 carat cut-cornered rectangular stone; the Asscher-cut citrine on this bangle has a more impressive shape. This vivid citrine bangle is a dazzling example of Cartier from the late 1930s.