David Webb Contemporary Multi-colored Sapphire Collar Necklace

This Signed David Webb Vintage Sapphire Collar Necklace, made in 1958, features a dazzling array of yellow and blue sapphires arranged in three stripes that flow around the neck in a spectacularly unusual manner. The 16-inch (40.64 cm) collar necklace is crafted in 18K yellow gold, featuring ten oval forms, connected with 6 single blue sapphires and 4 X-shaped links paved with diamonds. From a jewelry designer whose notable collections include bright colorful gemstones, Egyptian influences, and sleek streamlined design, this splendid necklace expresses the iconic David Webb style, and will make an evening on the town properly splashy.

American jeweler, David Webb (1925-1975) opened his eponymous shop in 1948, at the age of 23, in New York City. His designs are reflections of his love of New York society and architecture and his fascination with ancient cultures, among many other things. He went on weekly trips to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and studied gold objects from the Incas, from Turkey and Syria, from Egyptian artifacts unearthed in the tombs of Tutankhamun, and then refashioned them in his own hand. As he once said, "I had a tremendous feeling of art in me. I wanted to be an archaeologist, a ceramicist, or a jeweler. Jewelry won out."

The necklace is a riviere necklace of sorts, featuring ten graduated striped jeweled ovals reminiscent of abstracted Egyptian scarabs. The scarab was one of the more important amulets in ancient Egypt because the insect was a symbol of the Sun God. As we have seen in Webb’s Kingdom collection of coy yet friendly animals, he has a keen sense of play when it comes to pattern, with giraffes reduced to their spots and zebras reduced to their stripes in multiple amusing earring designs. Likewise, here the “scarabs” are abstractly indicated with the iconic colors and pattern that decorate the Tutankhamun gold funerary mask: yellow and blue stripes. It is quite playful if you know the reference, and utterly striking and beautiful if you do not. The piece is glorious either way.

Webb left an incredibly rich and diverse archive of jewelry designs, including more than 40,000 original drawings and sketches. Today the company creates designs in the spirit of his vision with skilled artisans retained by his workshop, still located above the original flagship Madison Avenue store. This recent piece is a wonderful embodiment of Webb which strikes all his joyous, spectacular, and playful notes.

Measures approx. 16” in length. Over 300 carats of sapphires total. 18k yellow gold. Signed Webb; circa 1958.

SKU :N1056
Category :NECKLACES
Metal :18KYG

David Webb

18K Yellow Gold

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