Lot 359: Diamond and White Gold Pendant

There’s a very good reason the internet is brimming with kitten and puppy dog videos – everyone needs a bit of added cuteness in their life and jewelley designers are happy to fill that desire.

The insect world continues to inspire – from chubby bees and slender dragonflies and fluttery butterflies to quirky lady bug beetles. Adorableness has ‘legs’: sometimes eight of them on a spider motif brooch. Also from the air, you can admire accurate or fanciful representations of feathery owls, hummingbirds and ducklings.

On terra firma and at sea: a ferocious lion is tamed when it’s spiky gold mane is imaginatively tousled; a giraffe stretches its neck ever so elegantly: add sunglasses and watch the charm quotient ramp up. You’ll notice the trend towards the diminutive as smallness has a large impact: formed of baroque pearls, tiny bunnies and wee mice that you’d probably not want to see in your house are magically transformed into a delight on a lapel; picture a penguin on skis or a bejewelled koala bear. For brilliant colour, add in parrots and toucans and peacocks, too; appealing fish, starfish, sea horses, dolphins, frogs and turtles; dependable favourites come from the canine and feline world.

Miniatures have a novelty value all of their own when everyday items such as clothing or toys are shrunk in size, encrusted with gems or decorated by enamel, worthy of a smile.

The classic parlour game asks the question: is it animal, vegetable or mineral? Any and all can have a touch of the whimsical about them, limited only by the skill and imagination of the designer; that’s when elegant segues into sweetness.

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