Antique 18ct Gold Sapphire & Seed Pearl Bar Brooch

This brooch features a central Sapphire that measures approximately 4.2mm, giving an estimated weight of approximately 0.30 carats. It has a gorgeous blue colour which provides just the right amount of contrast against the rich Yellow Gold.

Either side sits a delicate seed pearl, each positioned within an elongated openwork section of the brooch. The combination of rich Yellow Gold, blue sapphire and creamy white pearls is quintessentially elegant and gives the piece a beautifully balanced appearance without being overly decorative. The brooch has that wonderfully restrained elegance associated with fine early 20th-century jewellery. It measures an impressive 64mm in length and weighs 2.6 grams.

What elevates this brooch further is its Makers Mark, CS*FS, for Cornelius Desormeaux Saunders & James Francis Hollings (Frank) Shepherd, the renowned London Manufacturing Jewellers better known as Saunders & Shepherd. The firm operated from Bartlett's Passage, Holborn Circus, and subsequently Fetter Lane, London EC4, and produced an enormous variety of beautifully made jewellery and luxury objects.

Adding considerably to its charm and provenance, this beautiful brooch is presented in its original fitted Collingwood (Jewellers) Ltd box, proudly marked “By Appointment to the Royal Family” and bears the prestigious 46 Conduit Street, London address. Collingwood was a distinguished West End Jeweller and Supplier to the Royal Household, making this surviving presentation case a particularly special accompaniment to the piece. Whilst the Royal Appointment relates to Collingwood rather than indicating Royal ownership of the brooch itself, the combination of a celebrated London Maker, prestigious retailer and original Royal Appointment box gives this brooch a wonderful period provenance and an extra layer of history that is increasingly difficult to find intact today.