Rago Arts’ September 10, 2025 auction in New Jersey offered more than just beautiful jewels—it offered a window into jewelry history. Art Nouveau, Art Deco, and antique pieces shared the stage, each demonstrating the aesthetics and materials that defined its moment in time. Together they show how design moved from organic, nature-inspired forms to the sharp lines and symmetry of modernism. Here, we’ve gathered a few highlights to give you a closer look at how these styles came to life.
Art Nouveau Jewelry
Art Nouveau jewelry, which flourished at the turn of the 20th century, was all about movement and life. Where Edwardian pieces leaned on a delicate aesthetic, featuring lacy platinum filigree, diamonds, and natural freshwater pearls in garlands and bows, Art Nouveau moved into curves and asymmetry—lines that bent and climbed like grape vines, or veils in the wind, blossoms captured mid-bloom, or dragonflies hovering in flight. The natural world provided both the palette and the poetry, inspiring jewelers to use enamels in sweeping color, or as translucent “stained glass” through plique-à-jour, as well as alternative materials such as horn, ivory, and glass. Gems of the day included new finds of demantoid garnets from Russia.
René Lalique set the tone in Paris, but he was joined by innovators like Lucien Gaillard, Georges Fouquet, and Henri Vever, each exploring insects, flowers, and female figures with a sense of motion, fluidity, and sensuality. Across the Atlantic, Louis Comfort Tiffany carried the style into America, while in Spain, Masriera became famous for bold enamel work that turned women and mythological motifs into flowing, luminous jewels. Together, these artists made Art Nouveau jewelry less about ornament and more about wearable art, embodying the avant-garde spirit of the day.
The pieces in this collection capture the very essence of that movement—alive, fluid, and unmistakably Art Nouveau. – gr
Art Nouveau
Image courtesy of Rago Arts
Tourmaline, diamond, and gold pendant brooch
Depicting the female form, set with a cushion-cut green tourmaline framed by old European-cut diamonds.
Estimate: $8,000–12,000
Sold: $8,500
According to Rago Arts, the tourmaline is a highly saturated slightly yellowish-green hue, weighing approx. 44.00 cts.
The 28 diamonds weigh approx. 2.80 cts by measurement.
Tests at 14k yellow gold.
Art Nouveau
Diamond, pearl, and enamel brooch pendant
Centered on a woman’s bust, framed by enamel poppies, set with old mine and rose-cut diamonds and drop pearls
Silver-topped yellow gold
Sold with A La Vieille Russie box
Estimate: $4,500–5,500
Sold: $15,840
Provenance: from the Collection of Joan Rivers | Christie’s, The Private Collection of Joan Rivers, NY, 23 June 2016, Lot 15
Art Nouveau
Shell, demantoid garnet, and diamond hairpin
The carved shell cherry blossom with gold stamens, set with an oval-cut demantoid garnet and old mine-cut diamonds
Estimate: $5,000–7,000
Did Not Sell
The shell is a cream hue with even color. The demantoid garnet is a slightly yellowish-green hue with good transparency. Diamonds: 12 approx. 0.75 ct TW by measurement. Tests at 14k yellow gold.
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau enamel, freshwater pearl, and gold pendant
Depicting an enamel peacock with a hanging freshwater pearl; model 9344; 1900s
Yellow gold
Sold with Liberty & Co. box
Estimate: $3,000–5,000
Sold: $6,985
French Art Nouveau
Enamel, diamond, and pearl necklace
Here is a classic Art Nouveau pendant depicting a woman with rose-cut diamond head piece and a plique-à-jour enamel iris, suspending a pearl, hung from a fine link chain; circa 1900s
Yellow gold
Sold with Didier Antiques box
Estimate: $1,500–2,000
Sold: $4,445
Art Nouveau
Baroque pearl, diamond, and enamel ring
Estimate: $1,000–1,500
Sold: $14,500
Noting the estimate and sale price were quite far apart, it makes us think that the pearl is a natural freshwater pearl. Let us know if you think we are on the right track. – gr.
Art Deco Jewelry
Art Deco jewelry hit its stride in the late 1920s and ’30s, a bold departure from the flowing curves of Art Nouveau. This was a style built on geometry—zigzags, chevrons, and sharp angles—with platinum as the metal of choice. Platinum’s strength made it possible to set diamonds and colored gems in intricate, architectural patterns, while its bright white surface gave extra sparkle to newly popular step cuts. The Asscher cut—patented in 1902 but embraced during the Deco years—along with the refined emerald cut, became hallmarks of the style, their crisp lines perfectly suited to the age. Just as importantly, the baguette cut was developed during this period, a slim, rectangular shape designed specifically to echo the clean, linear look of Deco jewels.
The movement drew inspiration from everywhere: Cubism and Futurism in art, the clean lines of Machine Age Modernism, and a worldwide fascination with ancient cultures after the 1922 discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb. Designers borrowed motifs from Egypt, India, China, and South America, translating them into striking jewelry compositions with strong color contrasts—think onyx, jade, coral, or bold enamel in black, red, and blue, paired with diamonds, sapphires, rubies, and emeralds.
Leading the way were houses like Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Boucheron, and Mauboussin in Paris, joined by Tiffany & Co. in New York. For purists, the sharp, architectural jewels of Raymond Templier pushed Deco design to its most streamlined and modern. Together, these names defined the era, making Art Deco jewelry the ultimate expression of Jazz Age energy and Roaring Twenties glamour—jewelry as sleek, modern design, worn by the fashionable elite of the day.
The pieces offered here reflect that legacy—glittering, geometric, and unmistakably Art Deco.
Art Deco
Ruby and diamond bracelet
Here we have a platinum and yellow gold bracelet, of swirling design, set with old mine-cut diamonds and calibré-cut rubies.
Estimate: $15,000–20,000
Sold: $15,240
Good condition with normal signs of wear. The rubies are a saturated red hue with good transparency.
There are 360 Diamonds, with an estimated total weight of approximately 10.00-12.00 cts.
Art Deco
Sapphire, diamond, and platinum-topped gold cufflinks
Platinum-topped 14k yellow gold cut-corner square outlined cufflinks, each set with a circular-cut sapphire and old European-cut diamond, with engine-turned details.
Estimate: $400–600
Sold: $572
Art Deco
Diamond, synthetic sapphire, and platinum earrings
Of geometric design, each earring is set with old European, French, round brilliant, single, and rose-cut diamonds and French-cut synthetic sapphires; circa 1920s.
Estimate: $6,000–8,000
Sold: $6350
Good condition with wear commensurate with age.
The two largest diamonds weigh approximately 0.80 cts. each. There are 68 more diamonds, with a total weight of approximately 2.40 cts.
It is not surprising to see synthetic sapphires in jewelry during this time period. The process to produce them was by now well-established, and the colors were much easier to match than natural sapphires. – gr
Art Deco
Diamond, glass, and platinum bracelet
Here is a platinum and diamond bracelet, featuring marquise, old European, and round brilliant-cut diamonds, accented by green glass! Green glass may seem a bit odd, but when you figure that medium dark green calibrated emeralds were expensive, and synthetic emeralds had not been created yet, glass was the perfect alternative. And it did not stop the bracelet from being sold.
Estimate: $5,000–7,000
Sold: $5,080
Art Deco
Diamond, demantoid garnet, and ruby brooch
Now this is classic Art Deco. The platinum-topped yellow gold lizard is pavé-set with old mine-cut diamonds, circular-cut demantoid garnets, and cushion-cut rubies
Estimate: $4,500–5,500
Sold: $5,080
Good condition with wear commensurate with age. The demantoid garnets are a slightly yellowish-green hue with good transparency. The 68 diamonds weigh approximately 2.25 cts. total weight.
Though a lizard motif might recall the naturalism of Art Nouveau, the crisp geometry, platinum setting, and pavé diamond styling places this brooch firmly in the Art Deco tradition – gr
Art Deco
Opal, diamond, platinum, and gold brooch
This fabulous Platinum and yellow gold brooch is set with a spectacular cabochon opal, old European and old mine-cut diamonds.
Estimate: $4,500–5,500
Sold: $5,080
The opal has very good play-of-color with flashes of yellow, orange, green, and blue.
The 18 diamonds weigh approximately 1.60 cts TW.
Art Deco
Sapphire, diamond, and platinum-topped gold pendant brooch
This platinum-topped yellow gold brooch, is set with calibré-cut sapphires and old mine-cut diamonds.
Estimate: $4,000–5,000
Did Not Sell
Art Deco
Zircon, diamond, and platinum brooch
This platinum and diamond brooch features a circular-cut bright blue zircon. Diamonds are old mine-cuts.
Estimate: $2,500–3,500
Sold: $2,540
Tap here to see lots more Art Nouveau and Art Deco jewels at Rago Arts, New Jersey.
