METAL: 18k (750) yellow gold (French assay marks)
DIAMONDS: circular-cut diamonds with a total approximate weight of 6.0-8.0 carats
RUBIES: pear-shaped cabochon rubies with a total approximate weight of 0.5-1.0 carats
EMERALDS: pear-shaped cabochon and pear-shaped emeralds with a total approximate weight of 0.5-1.5 carats
SAPPHIRES: pear-shaped cabochon sapphires with a total approximate weight of 0.5-1.5 carats
DATE: circa 1980
MARKS: signed Cartier, numbered
CASE: official Cartier red leather fitted case

SIZE/DIMENSIONS: 7.3 x 5.3 cm
GROSS WEIGHT: 44.84 grams

Cf. Nadine Colero, Étourdissant Cartier, la création depuis 1937, Editions du Regard, 2008, p41 for a similar peacock brooch.

Rare bird symbolising the celestial world in many cultures, the luxuriance of their plumage inspires all sorts of stone combinations.

Attributed to Hera, Zeus’s wife and patron goddess of women in Greek mythology, the peacock is the bird of beauty and female pride. The eyes on its tail were originally placed there by the goddess to commemorate her faithful guardian, Argos, who was said to have "hundred eyes".

This majestic bird is also the national bird of India. The Mughal emperor Shah Jahan is said to have sat on the peacock throne because of the multitude of peacocks encrusted with precious stones. Sacred, it is also considered to be the only bird with the courage to fight cobras. The peacock would then be a metaphor for a self-confident woman wearing her dazzling finery.

These winged animals have always had a place of honour for Cartier, as in the monochrome peacock brooch made of almost 900 diamonds worn by Madame Robert Lazard and photographed for Harper's Bazaar in 1948.

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