GILBERT ALBERT (1930 Geneva 2019)

GILBERT ALBERT

(1930 Geneva 2019)
Decorative object, circa 1990. 18K yellow gold. Meteorite base applied with gold lichen, with a central egg-shaped gold cage opening to reveal a polished spherical iron meteorite. The interior of the egg and one lichen appliqué stamped "Gilbert Albert 3728 GA 750". With black leather-covered box, the beige velvet interior signed.
H total 17 cm, L 19 cm. Weight of the egg-shaped cage: 318 g. Iron ball: approx. 646 g.
The egg is slightly warped.

Geneva-born Gilbert Albert ranks among the most important Swiss goldsmiths and jewellery designers of the 20th century. He became renowned for his distinctive formal language and his use of unusual organic materials such as meteorites, insects, shells, fossils and petrified wood, which he combined with precious metals and gemstones to create extraordinary compositions. His œuvre extends far beyond jewellery and encompasses an impressive range of objects, from purely decorative showpieces to functional works such as pendules and other objects of decorative art. His creations were exhibited at the Kremlin in Moscow in the 1990s, and his clients included the Moroccan royal family (cf. Gilbert Albert, Patrick Ferla & Michel-E. Slatkine, "Gilbert Albert: 60 ans de création", Geneva 2012).