Yellow Gold Brooch with Rubies and Diamonds

Art Nouveau brooch dating from around 1910, depicting a chimera crafted from 18-carat yellow gold with exceptional skill. This piece perfectly embodies the values of Art Nouveau: the rejection of the ordinary, the celebration of artisanal craftsmanship, and the transformation of jewelry into a work of art in its own right.

The chimera, a mythological creature, was a favorite motif of Art Nouveau jewelry designers, who were drawn to its mysterious and fantastical nature as well as the extraordinary technical challenges it presented to the goldsmith. The brooch is adorned with a natural ruby and an Old European cut diamond, each weighing approximately 0.10 carats.

What makes this brooch particularly remarkable is the care taken with its reverse side, which is as finely crafted as its front—a hallmark of the finest workshops of the period and a detail that distinguishes truly exceptional pieces from ordinary ones.

The brooch bears the French eagle-head hallmark, attesting to the purity of the 18-carat gold, as well as the master’s mark A(cross)K—identified as that of André Kauffer, a French goldsmith of the Art Nouveau period.

Stones: Natural Ruby approx. 0.10 ct, Old European cut Diamond approx. 0.10 ct

Diameter: 24 mm

Total weight: 8.6 g