Biography
Very little biographical information is available about Marzo whose jewelry ranks among the best made in the Art Deco period. Initially operating in his native Spain, at some time in the late 1910s or early 1920s, Marzo opened a salon in Paris at 22 rue de la Paix, the fashionable street where other jewelers such as Cartier, Lacloche, and Tiffany & Co. were located. The firm was known for bold innovative designs using precious stones and limited precious metal. They exhibited to acclaim at the 1925 Paris Exposition des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes.
Significance
It was at the 1925 Paris Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes that Marzo gained international recognition, displaying their jewelry in two different pavilions. They contributed two vitrines to the Spanish Pavilion in the Court of the Queen, but the major part of their display was shown in the French Bijouterie-Joaillerie section located in the Grand Palais. The items they exhibited included two pairs of diamonds earrings, one in the girandole style and the other with cabochon emerald drops, three brooches with precious gemstones and diamonds, and a geometrically designed bracelet with rock crystal and amethyst buckle motifs decorated with cabochon emeralds and diamonds. In the contemporary publications it was mentioned that, even though Marzo was a Spanish firm, all their jewelry was made in France. Their display impressed all who visited at the Grand Palais, most particularly the judges who awarded the firm the Grand Prix.
This diamond-set bracelet typifies the superb jewelry by Marzo. The two main sections of the bracelet are joined by diamond-set links with strapwork that terminates in cusped arches, the Persian motif reiterated in the design at the center of each section. This bracelet epitomizes the understated elegance of jewelry from the 1920s from an internationally acclaimed designer.
This wide bracelet would make a statement worn on its own, or it could be worn, as it would have been in the Art Deco period, with diamond bracelets stacked on the wrist in multiples. This chic and superbly made bracelet is an example of the best from Marzo.
