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Once upon a time--in 1844--in Bourges there was born upon this earth a young man whose name was Jules Brateau. His father was a baker ... his mother was a baker ... his sisters and brother
--if he had any--were surely also bakers for it is said he was born into a family of bakers. Jules however neither needed nor wanted all that dough ... you should pardon the expression.
And so ... as fate would have it ... at fourteen years of age ... Jules decided to go off to Paris in order to apprentice under the tutelage of the great sculptor Honoré. But Jules was clearly a wanderin' man ... and he moved on ... and came to apprentice again ... this time under Diomède ... and by 1874 was well established as an independent artist who was impassioned with his work. He was a jeweler supreme ... as you will all soon see ... and soon came to do work for Maison Boucheron.
Which brings me to a pair of bracelets with Putti. A design of dear old Jules' ... for Boucheron ... to be shown at the Exhibition of
1878. A stunning pair of cuffs with art work supreme. On the one ... repoussé scenes from mythology. A nymph. A centaur flanked by putti picking grapes and making wine. On the other ... a winged nymph leading a bull and a ram ... flanked by more putti surrounding an alter of love. We're in Putti heaven folks. But there's more. Lovebirds. Rose-sprays. Pink gold. Silver bands set with rose-cut diamonds. An array of beauty and art forming gorgeousity beyond the ability of most. For those of you tempted to point out that there is no such word as gorgeousity ... let me correct you. There is indeed such a word. It came into existence as you read it. And once somethings exists ... it is.Their value is around $15,000 ... a mere bagatelle in terms of money when compared to last week's 18 or so mil for a diamond.
These cuffs are a beauty to behold. I think ... as I review my experiences in this industry ... that those trained in the art of sculpting make the finest jewelers. That said ... go ... go ... take a look. Enough of this reading stuff.
For those of you who are new to this thing called Tidbits...may I direct you to my home page at
And there ya have it. That's it for this week folks. Catch you all next week. Benjamin Mark
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