Catalog: Estate Jewelry: Silver: Mexican (255)

Vintage set of Mexican fine silver concave cufflinks signed by Antonio Pineda, this pair is wrought in the renowned Taxco modernist's .970 alloy. I love the sculptural lusciousness of the flat-bottomed ovoid body and the wave-like motion by which its edges rise and drop around the central hollow. In a slick mid-century design that can be easily enjoyed by just about everybody the cufflinks are 1 3/16" long by 7/8" wide and weigh 23.4 grams (for the set)...

Fleshy, slick and so mod this set of vintage Mexican Antonio Pineda earrings is wrought in his favorite fine (.970) silver alloy in the form of heart-shaped leaves. Antonio's jewelry, no matter how many elements combined in a design, if unfailingly sculptural and shamelessly tactile. It is very difficult to restrain oneself and not keep passing one's fingers over the masterfully worked, perfectly finished silver...

Classic Antonio Pineda bangle bracelet wrought in the maestro's favorite, .970 fine silver alloy with deep notches all around it that appear more dramatic thanks to the intentionally applied oxidation. There is something about Antonio's jewelry that bring them close to your heart as soon as you first see them and this piece is no exception. Enjoy it alone or, if you are lucky enough, add it to the stack of his bangles you already have...

Chunky fine, .970 silver and gorgeous, appetizingly curvaceous tiger's eye spheres come together in this set of Mexican cufflinks by Taxco's renowned modernist, Antonio Pineda. The specific design is very popular in necklace and bracelet form but when it surfaces, it is usually with chrysoprase or aventurine or some other green stone. This is the first time I have seen it with tiger's eye and I have to admit, I love the combination...

“Jewels by Tono”, the signature found on the figural Mexican silver and carved amethyst brooch at hand, is one of Antonio Pineda’s early hallmarks. Holding a fan, his hair in a long braid, part of his face obscured by the wide coolie hat, the man portrayed here is meant to hail from the “exotic Far East”...

Matching the impressive pendant necklace by the same maker that is also available in my store, the "warrior" bracelet presented here was wrought by maestro Anton in the "mozaico Azteca" style that the Los Castillo workshop revived in Taxco's "golden Deco" years. The profile of the warrior, carefully cut out of sterling silver sheet, and the eagle that accompanies it, is set in a sea of azur-malachite...

Bearing the signature of maestro Barrera this carefully made figural brooch depicts a richly clad person, most probably a nobleman or priest, with hands forming a very distinct gesture as if he takes part in a ritual or is performing a dance. Barrera , I suspect, worked in Mexico City, and created some impressive jewelry in the style associated with it...

An iconic motif in the index of Mexican Deco jewelry design, “masks” can be found carved in stone, molded in glass, created in inlay or enamel but also en repoussage like in the brooch presented here. Made by maestro Barrera in Mexico City most probably, its workmanship follows that city’s school of repousse jewelry of which Matilde Poulat is the most renowned creator...

Originally a painter who in the 1930s moved to Mexico to participate in the country’s cultural scene, Bernice Goodspeed quickly moved into designing and selling her own jewelry out of the store she and her fellow-artist husband Carl Pappe opened in Taxco. Bernice’s work does not come up often and I am very excited to have found this repousse necklace by her...

One of the few female designers of Mexico's 20th c. Silver Renaissance that we know of, Bernice Goodspeed arrived in Mexico's capital in 1930, according to Bille Hougart. Even though she and her painter husband, Carl Pappe, identified as writers and artists primarily, they opened a shop in Taxco where they sold not only their books and artwork but also jewelry that Bernice herself designed...

If I saw this piece from far away, I would think it's a poison ring - that's how impressive in size and lift its gallery is. Yet not to worry, there is no hidden compartment here and you won't be tempted to become a modern-day Lucrezia Borgia! Beauty and commanding presence, though, yes! There is a lot of that in the sodalite's dark blue depths with their cloudy grey swirls and that river of black cutting across right through the cab's middle...

This past year seems to have been a Carmen Beckmann year for One Good Eye Silver. And even though I cannot claim it was because of planning, it has not been entirely out of luck either. One of the few female contributors to Mexico’s 20th c Silver Renaissance that we know of, Beckmann’s jewelry are works of a confident designer, impeccably finished and at her best moments, incredibly creative as well...

Less-is-more is definitely the way Carmen Beckmann chose to go with this vintage Mexican sterling silver and amethyst ring. Set in a disk adorned with overlay and oxidation, it brings to mind a perfectly round stone as it touches the water causing it to ripple. Easy to wear whatever the occasion and a beautiful example of Mexican modernist jewelry. Currently a sz 6 US (easily resizable by your jeweler) the ring has a face that is 7/8” in diameter and it weighs 8.3 grams...

Surrounded by the headless body of a coiled serpent the bezel-set turquoise adorning this Carmen Beckmann ring is one of the most visually interesting specimens of the stone I have recently seen. The variations in its green color in combination with the off-whites and the intense matrix come together in a way that suggests a mountainous landscape, dark boulders looming in the back, green grass still covered with patches of snow here and there. This is not elaborate, fussy design - the materials ...

Timelessly elegant this vintage Mexican silver Carmen Beckmann ring features a “toi et moi” design with two sparkling color-change sapphires in substantial crown settings. This is a more “demure” Beckmann, if I am allowed the use of the word in this context, reaching for a classic look with clean, lean lines and minimal adornment. It is the two gemstones that take center stage here with their deep burgundy-turn-to-steely-purple color as the light changes while the discreet silver work su...

I am a big fan of Carmen Beckmann’s Etruscan style jewelry - her domed Etruscan ring is a foundational piece in my collection and I enjoy it thoroughly. There is something about the way the wire-work and tiny florets with their bead centers oxidize with time that creates an air of warm, comfortable luxury around them that gets me every time. I could easily see the dangle earrings at hand worn by dignified Roman matrons leisurely enjoying their honeyed wine. Measuring 1 1/4” long by 1 1/8” ...

Possibly my most favorite Carmen Beckmann ring design (an example lives in my jewelry box), her Etruscan style domed creation presented here is an ode to wire-work and micro-beading. It rises regally above the finger yet because of all those curved, glistening surfaces, it never creates problems to the wearer like most rings that are so high do. And though its “stature” is by itself impressive, it is all those nooks and crannies among the profusion of design elements coming together here tha...

Very reminiscent of jewelry created in the 1950s by Graziella Laffi, the Italian-born jewelry designer habitually referred to as “the Spratling of Peru”, this is a rarely surfacing creation of Carmen Beckmann’s. Thick, hand-hammered silver sheet that was then oxidized is used to form the bracelet’s main body. Upon that an impressive fish applique marries the piece’s Arts and Crafts feeling with the stylization of ancient Meso-american glyphs. The applique’s thickness adds sculpturali...