Silver and Gold Pendant with Tugtupite (Denmark), 1980’s

I thought that perhaps some of the jewelry lovers in this forum would find this pendant interesting. It was made (in the 1980’s, I presume) by a Danish goldsmith named Ole W. Jacobsen (1930-2011), who had his own studio in central Copenhagen for five decades (1952-2002). My mother had quite a collection of rings and pendants made by him, commissioned by my father who sometimes bought precious stones abroad and had them incorporated in the jewelry.

This particular pendant is made of silver and gold (I am not sure what would be the correct term to describe the technique used for the gold; ‘hammered’ is probably not it). The most interesting thing about the pendant is the stone, a tugtupite, which is a very rare type of gem found only in Greenland and one place in Canada. Tugtupites vary in colour from a pale rose to a cherry red. Jacobsen very often mixed silver and gold and also used unusual stones (or even petrified dinosaur bone, coral etc.) , almost invariably cabochons, so his pieces are rarely ‘glittery’. You may say that this pendant is very 1980’s in style, but actually Jacobsen’s pieces often have these simple and not necessarily symmetrical shapes. He did produce a few ‘off-the-shelf’ things, such as cufflinks, brooches and bracelets, but most of the pieces are unique.

Dimensions: 3 x 4.2 cm (1.1 x 1.8 in), i.e. quite a large pendant!