A MAGNIFICENT EDWARDIAN GOLD AND GEMSTONE NECKLACE; A SO-CALLED SUFFRAGETTE NECKLACE

Description:

England, circa 1910
L. 42 cm
585/000 rose gold with silver (tested). Approx. 213 diamonds in various cuts, totaling approx. 8.00 ct, low quality. 35 small rubies. 25 small emeralds. Lock probably added later. Signs of wear due to age. Weight 72.6 g.
Private collection, Cologne, in the family for generations.
Literature:
Patrick Golenia: Glanz und Eleganz, Gera 2020. For the type, see p. 71.
G W V - Give women vote - This was the title given by Emmeline Petrick-Lawrence, editor of the newspaper Votes for Women, to her fiery editorial on July 30, 1908. In it, she not only advocated for universal suffrage for women, but also gave the suffragette movement in England the three symbolic colors G W V - green, white, and violet.
And these three colors of the women's movement quickly became a fashion trend throughout Europe. For Christmas of the same year, the London court jeweler Mappin & Webb published a catalog with jewelry in the colors of the suffragettes.
The necklace offered here, with its emeralds (green), diamonds (white) and rubies (violet), represents the worldwide women's movement at the beginning of the 20th century.