Beschreibung:

A GEM-SET AND CULTURED PEARL 'CARDAN' NECKLACE, BY MARINA B Set with polished pink sapphires (possibly synthetic) and citrine beads, alternating with cultured pearls, mounted in 18K gold, signed Marina B, maker's mark, numbered, Italian assay mark, length 81cm As the name suggests, Marina Bulgari is the granddaughter of Bulgari's founding father, Sotirio Bulgari. Her father, Constantino was Bulgari's eldest son and held a central role in the family firm. As a young woman though, Marina had other interests, amongst them aspirations of becoming a mathematician as well as a keen interest in sailing. It was inevitable that she would succumb to pressures to join the family firm and, by 1973, she had become co-CEO with her cousin Gianni. Fuelled by an entrepreneurial spirit and an independent mind, Marina eventually left Bulgari in 1976 and struck out on her own. In 1978, she founded Marina B. For the next number of years, she travelled extensively and eventually opened stores in Geneva, London, Milan, Monte Carlo, Paris and New York. Creative Director and Chairman of Marina B today, Guy Bedarida describes her as a woman designing for women. She was hugely successful in the venture and has been highly acclaimed for her easy-to-wear structured and architectural designs in unusual colour tones and clever compositions. In the case of this Cardan necklace from the late 1980s, instead of stringing or threading the gemstones, Marina took inspiration from the joints of a gimbal compass used on her yacht so that the rounded link or joint wraps around the gemstone in an alternating pattern. Variations of this method and the very distinctive look it created were used in other collections such as the Pneu earrings and the Fusilli parure of the early 90s. Marina retired to Monte Carlo in the late 1990s and sold her firm. Today it is run by Guy Bedarida who has rejuvenated the brand while maintaining its original spirit and image.