French cut diamond lorgnette

[Circe]

... made three lorgnette cozies.

Back in autumn I stumbled across this gorgeous platinum lorgnette. It was originally set with incredibly strong lenses that make me think it must have been used as either a straight-up magnifying glass in its closed form, or as reading glasses for somebody with atrocious vision, fabulous taste, and a limitless budget (I keep picturing an Edwardian lady enjoying her golden years during the Deco period periodically peering around herself through the lorgnette before deciding that the soft haze blurring the jazz babies and their cigarette holders was a blessing). Alas, as it's an open lorgnette - the kind where the glasses fold up, but not into the handle - over long years of being worn on a long chain, the lenses had gotten somewhat scuffed.

(This is also why you'll notice a number of different covers in the pics below ... I got kind of obsessively determined to make a period-accurate cover for them, once I changed the lenses.)

So now, on the rare occasions when I want to go out without my spectacles, I do so in high style! My optician looked at me a little funny when I brought the lorgnette in to ask him to install prescription lenses, but then he sighed deeply, muttered something about the last person who'd asked him to do this being older than the horseless carriage, and acquiesced. I wear them on a 36" platinum chain, and they're surprisingly comfortable to use. They also actually do make a good magnifying lens when they're doubled. Multifunctional!

Details: they test platinum, though they're unmarked and unsigned (which I find very frustrating: as far as I can tell, a few pieces have tiny numbers scratched into them, which I've also seen on cheaper lorgnettes ... I'm assuming it was a way for the jeweler to be sure s/he was assembling the pieces in the correct order?), and they have the most amazing detailing all over. Every bit that could be chased, engraved, or filigreed has been. And, best of all? They have half a carat of french cuts in the handle! Oh, frabjous day.

Expect a dozen pictures to follow ....

 

[Circe]

... more ....

 

[Circe]

Okay, I have no idea why the pics are coming out so big - I resized them! AND the system is supposed to resize them if we don't! Bah. I will post now, figure it out later ....

 

[Circe]

Aaaaaaaaaand last one, for a neat baker's dozen.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Circe, that is absolutely exquisite. I envy so many of your pieces, and this one is no exception. Just fabulous!!!!

 

[yssie]

Oh my...


Circe, 'exquisite' is a marvellous description. There are thousands of beautiful keynote pieces here on PS, but few seek (and so frequently successfully find!) these sorts of luxe, opulent extravagances I've always thought your collection paints you as an heiress to a fabulous inheritance and, well, this lorgnette fills in a little more of that picture

Thank you for sharing it with us!! What a beautiful piece - and the original Cartier case, too? And I LOVE that you had a new lens with your prescription installed - I suppose it was either that or a 10x to use as the most unexpected and fashionable jeweller's loupe in NYC

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Haha! A loupe lens would have been perfect, Yssie!!!

 

[yennyfire]

Circe, that is absolutely exquisite. I envy so many of your pieces, and this one is no exception. Just fabulous!!!!

This, 100%!

 

[AprilBaby]

VERY cool!

 

[dk168]

Not sure how useful it is, in this day and age, however, it is beautiful.

Thanks for sharing.

DK

 

[gemmyblond]

Absolutely one of the coolest accessories around! Tres chic and yet tres useful. What a neat find!

 

[armywife13]

Amazing! What a fun, gorgeous piece to add to your collection!

 

[arkieb1]

OMG, you really do find the coolest things!!!! It's beautiful. Wealthy ladies used to take them to a night out to read the programs at the opera, the ballet and various shows then switch to opera glasses (like binoculars) to see the stage from high up in the gallery, or to fancy places to dine out to read the menu. Or indeed they would have been used in parlours for reading, for an older lady with failing eyesight.

 

[kelpie]

You are too fabulous! They are exquisite! I love that you've actually gotten your prescription and are using them!

 

[Circe]

Circe, that is absolutely exquisite. I envy so many of your pieces, and this one is no exception. Just fabulous!!!!

Thanks, DS - that is a very flattering compliment!

 

[Circe]

Oh my...

Circe, 'exquisite' is a marvellous description. There are thousands of beautiful keynote pieces here on PS, but few seek (and so frequently successfully find!) these sorts of luxe, opulent extravagances I've always thought your collection paints you as an heiress to a fabulous inheritance and, well, this lorgnette fills in a little more of that picture

Thank you for sharing it with us!! What a beautiful piece - and the original Cartier case, too? And I LOVE that you had a new lens with your prescription installed - I suppose it was either that or a 10x to use as the most unexpected and fashionable jeweller's loupe in NYC

Ys, thank you! And, I wish - I'm more like the poor man's Auntie Mame. (I actually wish I were more athletic, so I could join a roller derby team and play as Auntie Maim.). But I'll happily settle for being authentically wacky and astonishingly well accessorized!

I actually don't know if the case is authentic to it. They came together, but insofar as I'm aware, Cartier always signed its pieces, and unless I'm missing some microscopic signature (or it was originally on the loop for the chain, which was missing when I purchased it, or something), this piece is doomed to remain a mystery. Eh, I like mysteries!

P.S. - great minds! I totally thought about that! But my optometrist shit the idea down, saying it wouldn't work with a double lens. Bah!

 

[PattyCo]

Those are gorgeous! You have the neatest pieces, with such history behind them. Oh, the stories they could tell...

I think picture 7 has 2 hallmarks. At the top, where it splits, there's one on either side. The one on the right looks like a diamond, the kind from a deck of cards pointy on the top and bottom. The one on the left looks like "something", letters or numbers(I can't make it out), going long-ways downward.

I noticed it as I was scrolling through your pictures, even before I got to your comment about the other mark, and thought that was a tricky and clever place to put a hallmark. Or my old eyes are playing fancy tricks on me, LOL! And if they prove to be just scratches please forgive me.


Warm regards,
PattyCo

 

[Circe]

This, 100%!

Thanks, DS, Yenny, Aprilbaby! Again, great minds ... I think I initially started noticing lorgnette a because I was idly wondering if I could put together a sort of jewelers chatelaine ... I mean, I have my little traveling go-bag of shopping tools for vintage fairs - micrometer, loupe, black light, etc. - but anything worth doing is worth doing well, right? Yet, oddly, the "fanciest" loupes I've seen have just had utilitarian cases which have happened to be made of gold. That CAN'T be right!

 

[Circe]

Not sure how useful it is, in this day and age, however, it is beautiful.

Thanks for sharing.

DK

Thanks, DK! Admittedly, it may be more so for me than most - I can't wear contacts, since I need to take my glasses off to read (one can prop their glasses on their skull at the library, but it's probably uncouth to drop one's contacts into their drinking glass). And while I do love mine and think of them as an accessory, there are times (dancing, costume parties, anyplace where they might fog up) where they're inconvenient. So ... what's old is new again? i mean, if Justin Timberlake brought sexy back, little old me can at least aspire towards bringing back some archaic accessories, right?

 

[Circe]

Absolutely one of the coolest accessories around! Tres chic and yet tres useful. What a neat find!

Thanks, GB! I was very, VERY pleased when I found them.

 

[Circe]

Amazing! What a fun, gorgeous piece to add to your collection!

Thanks, Armywife! I do have to admit that the consistency of my taste grows more pronounced with every additional piece I acquire. Pah to Emerson and his hobgoblins!

 

[Circe]

OMG, you really do find the coolest things!!!! It's beautiful. Wealthy ladies used to take them to a night out to read the programs at the opera, the ballet and various shows then switch to opera glasses (like binoculars) to see the stage from high up in the gallery, or to fancy places to dine out to read the menu. Or indeed they would have been used in parlours for reading, for an older lady with failing eyesight.

Thanks, Arkie! Over the course of trying to figure out what the lorgnette cover of the day would have been, I came across the website of a gentleman who collects lorgnettes and has over a thousand of them. They seem to have been almost like the smartphones of their day - practical, decorative/frequently dressed up as status symbols (I do not feel bad about my shiny new phone case, either, btw), and often multifunctional. My favorites are the ones with watches built into their handles - too cool!

 

[Circe]

You are too fabulous! They are exquisite! I love that you've actually gotten your prescription and are using them!

Thanks, Kelpie! It was one of the few ways I could justify the extravagance ... this year's new glasses, just WAY COOLER.

 

[Circe]

Those are gorgeous! You have the neatest pieces, with such history behind them. Oh, the stories they could tell...

I think picture 7 has 2 hallmarks. At the top, where it splits, there's one on either side. The one on the right looks like a diamond, the kind from a deck of cards pointy on the top and bottom. The one on the left looks like "something", letters or numbers(I can't make it out), going long-ways downward.

I noticed it as I was scrolling through your pictures, even before I got to your comment about the other mark, and thought that was a tricky and clever place to put a hallmark. Or my old eyes are playing fancy tricks on me, LOL! And if they prove to be just scratches please forgive me.

Warm regards,
PattyCo

Patsy, you have sharp eyes! You are entirely correct about the scratched numbers - 6Z9z, or 6292, or something, as near as I can see. The other one, sadly, does seem to be a trick of the light ... for a second I was really excited to think I might have missed something! But please, if you think you spot anything else, say the word!

 

[Circe]

BTW, this is the only mark on them that I can't figure out: it doesn't look like a makers mark as I would understand it (not according to any international list I've been able to find, anyway), but it's also way too regular to be a random scratch. See that Z looking thing on the left? (Which, come to think of it, is very similar to the 2/Z Patsy noted ... somebody's initial, or somebody's weird numeric mark?) So if anybody thinks they recognize it ... please, tell me and relieve an obsessively curious mind!

 

[yssie]

Oh my...

Circe, 'exquisite' is a marvellous description. There are thousands of beautiful keynote pieces here on PS, but few seek (and so frequently successfully find!) these sorts of luxe, opulent extravagances I've always thought your collection paints you as an heiress to a fabulous inheritance and, well, this lorgnette fills in a little more of that picture

Thank you for sharing it with us!! What a beautiful piece - and the original Cartier case, too? And I LOVE that you had a new lens with your prescription installed - I suppose it was either that or a 10x to use as the most unexpected and fashionable jeweller's loupe in NYC

Ys, thank you! And, I wish - I'm more like the poor man's Auntie Mame. (I actually wish I were more athletic, so I could join a roller derby team and play as Auntie Maim.). But I'll happily settle for being authentically wacky and astonishingly well accessorized!

I actually don't know if the case is authentic to it. They came together, but insofar as I'm aware, Cartier always signed its pieces, and unless I'm missing some microscopic signature (or it was originally on the loop for the chain, which was missing when I purchased it, or something), this piece is doomed to remain a mystery. Eh, I like mysteries!

P.S. - great minds! I totally thought about that! But my optometrist shit the idea down, saying it wouldn't work with a double lens. Bah!

Oh well, practicalities getting in the way as usual! At least the bit about great minds remains

I wonder if people on TPF might be better equipped to ID it for you from those marks? Or at least tell you if the box is authentic? There are some who live and breathe Cartier on there..

 

[yssie]

Pah to Emerson and his hobgoblins!

Ah, you're just trusting thyself!

 

[GemFever]

This is insanely awesome. Circe, you need to change your PS name to "FC Magnet"

 

[JaneSmith]

Please get all dressed up and blinged up and use these in class. You'll be the coolest most beautiful professor evah!

 

[Circe]

Oh my...

Circe, 'exquisite' is a marvellous description. There are thousands of beautiful keynote pieces here on PS, but few seek (and so frequently successfully find!) these sorts of luxe, opulent extravagances I've always thought your collection paints you as an heiress to a fabulous inheritance and, well, this lorgnette fills in a little more of that picture

Thank you for sharing it with us!! What a beautiful piece - and the original Cartier case, too? And I LOVE that you had a new lens with your prescription installed - I suppose it was either that or a 10x to use as the most unexpected and fashionable jeweller's loupe in NYC

Ys, thank you! And, I wish - I'm more like the poor man's Auntie Mame. (I actually wish I were more athletic, so I could join a roller derby team and play as Auntie Maim.). But I'll happily settle for being authentically wacky and astonishingly well accessorized!

I actually don't know if the case is authentic to it. They came together, but insofar as I'm aware, Cartier always signed its pieces, and unless I'm missing some microscopic signature (or it was originally on the loop for the chain, which was missing when I purchased it, or something), this piece is doomed to remain a mystery. Eh, I like mysteries!

P.S. - great minds! I totally thought about that! But my optometrist shit the idea down, saying it wouldn't work with a double lens. Bah!

Oh well, practicalities getting in the way as usual! At least the bit about great minds remains

I wonder if people on TPF might be better equipped to ID it for you from those marks? Or at least tell you if the box is authentic? There are some who live and breathe Cartier on there..

Hm ... that's a good idea. I think most of them are more interested in the modern stuff, though - I have a Van Cleef & Arpels parure case that I'm trying to date that I posted about, and ... crickets. For what it's worth, I think the box is perfectly authentic ... the bit that's impossible to be sure of without a hallmark is whether they began their lives together. I have been poring over every Cartier book I can get my grubby little hands on trying to find examples of Cartier lorgnettes ... sadly, they're think on the ground. Bah!

And regarding Emerson ... touche!