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Ella Gafter Tahitian Black Pearl Strand Necklace

Name: Ella Gafter Tahitian Black Pearl Strand Necklace
Brand: Ella Gafter
Price: 21200 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

The Tahitian pearl necklace is composed of 37 pearls for a total elegant length of 18”. The pearls originate from the waters of Tahiti. Their diameter range is 12.5-11mm. They feature thick healthy nacre, very slight graduation, beautiful homogeneous color hues and a lovely lustre. The pearls were extracted from Pinctada Margaritifera shells (“black-lipped mother of pearl”) and are being delivered to the customer with their natural color and luster. The clasp is hand made in 18 carat white gold in our own workshop in Italy, according to an original Ellagem design. It is decorated with round diamonds. Ella Gafter is recognized as one of the world’s leading pearl jewelers. An extraordinary corsage brooch by Ella Gafter is prominently and permanently displayed in the new Hall of Gems and Minerals in the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

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Dimensions:

Length: 13 in (330.2 mm)

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Artist

Place of Origin:

Italy

Period:

21st Century

Date of Manufacture:

Unknown

Condition:

Seller Location:

New York, NY

Reference Number:

Seller: P901stDibs: LU802319770342

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Ella Gafter

Even before Ella Gafter founded her namesake jewelry collection in 1982, she was a formidable presence in the jewelry industry.

As a Rome-based gem dealer, Gafter sold pearls and precious stones to retailers and jewelers but was often dissatisfied with how they made use of the rare materials she worked so hard to source. Instead of grousing, she decided to design jewels that would do them justice, focusing primarily on pearls — akoya, Tahitian and South Sea. She explains her fascination with the lustrous marine treasures simply: “Every woman looks better with pearls than without.”

Her daughter Talila Gafter, then an undergrad at Harvard, was her ally in getting the project off the ground. Together, they made the rounds to stores with Ella’s first efforts. “We had a little pouch with eight pieces and we sold everything,” Talila tells 1stDibs. After graduation, she “was involved one hundred percent” in building the company, whose pieces are handmade by master jewelers in Naples.

The designer insists that her unwavering focus is the source of her success. “There’s no compromising for me,” she says. She’s been known to replace the pearls in a single piece time after time until she’s certain she’s achieved her ideal result. “A pearl you have to respect,” she explains. “You have to put it where it wants to sit.”

Ella describes the collaboration with her daughter as a “partnership,” with each having her own domain. “I’m all fantasy; Talila is the concrete one,” she says. The company is now based in New York City, with Talila as its president while Ella is firmly at the helm of creative decisions. “I’ve never made a design suggestion to Ella,” says Talila. “Nobody does.”

That forbearance has been earned, says Talila. “I admire that Ella doesn’t take no for an answer, her tenacity, her extraordinary ambition. She believes as long as there is life, there is a lot of beauty to create. She’s a force of nature.”

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