South Sea Pearl Necklace with Gold and Diamond Clasp, Nardi, Venice, c. 1995

Anyone strolling across St. Mark’s Square on a warm summer evening, when the light glides softly over the facades and the sounds of the city mingle with the soft clinking of glasses, can sense something of that special atmosphere that has characterized Venice for centuries. Beneath the arcades of this square—which Napoleon called the “living room of Europe”—just a few steps from St. Mark’s Basilica, the elegant salon of the Nardi jewelry house has been located since 1925. Deeply rooted in the history of the lagoon city, Nardi has developed a distinctive design language that finds its most prominent expression in the world-famous Moretto brooches. Nardi’s pieces of jewellery often play—sometimes quite subtly—with traditional Venetian motifs in their designs and in the way materials and design concepts are combined. Thus, at Nardi, pieces of jewellery featuring mask motifs sit alongside those shaped like lions, as if they were a natural part of the city from which they originate. No wonder, then, that international celebrities were also drawn to Nardi’s jewels: Elizabeth Taylor, Grace Kelly, Ernest Hemingway, and Marilyn Monroe, along with the Princess of Kent, were among his illustrious clientele. This necklace, made of 34 South Sea pearls with a diameter of approximately 12.2 mm, was crafted in the workshop on St. Mark’s Square. The pearls—fine cultured South Sea pearls in a silvery white hue and beautifully round in shape—exhibit only a few surface imperfections. What makes it special is the clasp that holds the pearls together. Crafted from solid 18-karat gold, it takes the form of a seashell set with 131 small brilliant-cut diamonds, which together weigh approximately 2.50 ct. The three-dimensional design and substantial weight make the clasp a standout element that, as a marine motif, blends seamlessly into Nardi’s visual language and, at the same time, into the necklace itself. This extraordinary necklace came to us from a prominent Stuttgart collection. The signed piece was purchased by the previous owners themselves directly from Nardi on Markusplatz.

Estimation:€12,890

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