Catalog: Estate Jewelry (313)

The indisputable queen of Mexican enamelwork, Margot de Taxco created an amazing series of jewelry in that technique which she first started focusing on while still married to Antonio Castillo and designing for the family workshop. As with her other jewelry here too the sources of inspiration were varied covering distances not only in geographical space but also in time...

One of the most elusive pieces designed by Danish modernist Hans Hansen, this sterling silver neck ring has been in my collection for a long time. The idea was to get a pendant by the same designer so as to complete the necklace but it never happened and I decided to give that same opportunity to someone else out there. So if you have been looking for a Hansen neck ring and have not been able to find one, here is your golden chance...

Out of Enrique Ledesma’s sterling silver and gemstone line, this modernist Mexican hinged bracelet is adorned with two faceted color-change sapphires. Mimicking the behavior of alexandrites by changing hue under different light conditions, these stones are often referred to as alexandrites themselves but they are in fact synthetic corundum...

Wrought in .900 silver which Matilde Poulat used in the early period of her career this stunning silver repousse brooch develops around a carved black onyx “mask”. Matl’s work is always impressive - no one could ever blame her creations for timidity - but it seems to me that the repoussage of her first years is even bolder...

Maestro Nestor is one of Taxco’s well-kept little secrets. He is not widely known - only the very dedicated vintage Mexican silver jewelry collectors are aware of his work - and his pieces can vary in style and inspiration. Yet when he is at his best, he can be truly spectacular. I believe the necklace at hand is expresses one of those creative moments...

Admittedly my favorite Mexican modernist, Salvador Teran seems to have never had a "bad" moment during his career. There is not one piece of his that I have come upon which I have not loved for its quirky abstraction, its sometimes tongue-in-cheek genius, its magical way of playing with layers, abstraction and oxidation. The mod pendant presented here provides a good illustration, I believe, of the point I am trying to make...

It's been a while since I presented a piece by Gerardo Lopez but he is one of my favorite Taxco maestros, a talented silversmith and designer who excelled in the art of repoussage. I believe Lopez was at his best when he created pectoral necklaces and clamper bracelets and it is an exquisite example of the latter form that I am showing here...

Fantastic late 1960s – 1970s, I believe based on style, modernist sterling silver and ribbon long cascading circles collar necklace signed by Niels Erik From of Denmark. Scandinavian jewelry is one of my favorite genres – I love the slick, innovative design, the bold minimalism and the “honesty” of materials used so I am always on the look out for good examples...

One of the most massive bracelet designs by the Los Ballesteros workshop this vintage sterling silver and amethyst hinged bangle is simply astounding! Sweeping wire-work curves and fleshy “dimpled dot” repousse semi-spheres come together to form the bracelet’s two wings while a huge, saturated purple amethyst cabochon takes center front adding color and drama...

Substantial and quite unusual in its design this modernist Mexican silver bracelet is an Enrique Ledesma creation and it is adorned with two faceted color-change sapphires. The bracelet’s shape reminds me of ancient torques yet here the two ends bypass each other in a tight, determined embrace. I love the way the sterling tube grows in diameter as it progresses to the bracelet’s front where it is abruptly cut at an angle to accept the gemstone in a crown setting...

A classic, and much published, design for Hector Aguilar, the “masks” bracelet was not an example of the Taxco maestro’s work that I was particularly looking for. I considered it - let’s say - less impressive than the rest of his jewelry and resisted it for the longest of times. Until one day, I somehow ended up with one. And I fell in love- honestly...

I could never exaggerate the sparkle of the two big, faceted color-change sapphires that adorn the opposing “wings” forming the face of the modernist Enrique Ledesma Mexican hinged bracelet at hand! Set here against untreated sterling (quite often, Ledesma uses niello-type oxidation to enhance the contrast between gemstone and silver) the stones pass from amethyst to a steely purple under different light conditions thus mimicking the behavior of alexandrites...

I love the Los Ballesteros family of massive, “dimpled dot” hinged bracelets and I am constantly on the look out for great examples. Wrought in sterling silver and adorned with a big, bezel-set agate cabochon that celebrates all hues of green, this beauty is a variation of the version with amethyst that is also available on my site...

Slick, strong design that brings to mind the best of Scandinavian modernism, this sterling silver studio-made necklace consisting of neck ring and pendant is an unsigned American beauty...

One of the oldest and definitely one of the very few original workshops that are still in operation in Taxco, the Los Ballesteros taller created some of the best "mask" jewelry in the story of Mexico's 20th c. Silver Renaissance. Whether incorporated in rings, brooches, pendants or bracelets, their minimalist carved portraits are always finely executed and the silver-work which houses them quite often touches the monumental...

Vintage 1980s Talleres de Los Ballesteros Mexican modernist bracelet wrought in Antonio Pineda’s favorite .970 alloy which is richer in silver content than the standard sterling, this is a heavy, architectural piece adorned with clear, faceted, gem-quality amethysts. The stones are open on the back to maximize the effect created by the light as it passes through them and the all-silver links are substantial and very sculptural. I don’t offer post-1980 Mexican jewelry very often unless the qu...

A classic Mexican Deco jewelry design element silver repousse semi-spheres were used by well-known designers like Fred Davis and anonymous Taxco maestros alike. They come in all sizes and combinations, in all-silver or adorned with stones and glass, and they unfailingly make for stunning jewelry. In this hinged bangle bracelet they are clustered together in fours to create little florets with bezel-set amethyst centers. In the back, they are simply stacked in rows. Impressive in its sculpturalit...

Based on an original, almost impossible to find Margot de Taxco design, the repousse "swans-in-a-row" bracelet I am presenting here is wrought in fine, .980 silver and is a little masterpiece. I think suggesting that "A.E.M", whose initials can be found on it, was a maestro who worked for the Los Castillo and/or Margot de Taxco is not a far-fetched hypothesis. Not only is this piece very close to Margot's creation, it is also extremely well made, very sculptural and has crisp, rich detail to it....