Silvia Furmanovich Marquetry Snuff Bottle Necklace

A glamorous contemporary necklace, by the designer Silvia Furmanovich, modeled in 18k gold and featuring a meticulously-crafted, marquetry snuff bottle pendant. This wooden "bottle" is decorated with myriad tropical flowers and their foliage— it wears a triangular, diamond-set collar, and its gold cap is decorated with curling forms. The bottle is backed with a heavy 18k gold plate, and this plate pierced with a repeating design of clouds. This necklace is beautifully made. It hangs from a long, substantial cable chain. It is marked for the designer and with 750 for 18k gold purity.

From the designer: "while the end result looks seamless, marquetry is actually a painstaking process of assembling hand-cut wood veneer shapes created from found objects in the forest. Artisans, looking for raw materials such as fallen tree branches or bark, collect local specimens — in this case, colored wood including Muirapiranga (red), Tatajuba (yellow), Louro Abacate (Green), Roxinho (purple) and Azul Carvalho (blue) — that they reclaim, thereby making the process sustainable. A proprietary system of washing and soaking the wood in water and minerals, enhancing its existing color naturally, allows for a variety of hues that is at once earthy and bold."

Materials

18k gold
Wood
Diamond

Age

c. 2020 -

Dimensions

Bottle pendant measures approx 2 7/16" x 1 1/8"; total wearable length of necklace is approx 31.5"; diamonds (22) measure approx .8 mm; diamond ctw is approx .06 carats.