The Sea in the Work of Suzanne Belperron: Starfish, Sea Urchins and Seashells

Starfish brooch in chalcedony, set at the centre with a natural pearl and at each tip with a bezel-set diamond. Private collection.

After the flowers and foliage of our article on nature, we turn to the marine world. Suzanne Belperron was drawn to it for the splendour of its forms and its combinations of colour. Starfish, sea urchins and seashells became sculptural jewels in her hands. Yet, true to her approach, she chose her motifs with great care: no exotic fish and no aquarium décor, only forms pure enough to be stylised.

Key takeaways

• As early as 1933, Elsa Schiaparelli wore two Nautilus clips by Suzanne Belperron, shaped as seashells, in Vogue.

• The starfish was made in rock crystal, carnelian and chalcedony, set with pearls or diamonds.

• The Sea Urchin bracelet, photographed in Vogue in February 1936, is one of her best-known marine creations.

• She set aside fish, which she found too naturalistic, and made the seashell a common thread of her work.

The marine world, a fascination with forms and colours

Suzanne Belperron was captivated by the undersea world for the beauty of its forms and the richness of its colours. One of the earliest traces appeared in American Vogue on 15 September 1933: two Nautilus clips, shaped as seashells set with diamonds and rock crystal drops, were fastened to a multi-strand pearl necklace on the shoulders of Elsa Schiaparelli, a friend and prestigious client of the designer.

The starfish, faithfully drawn

Sensitive to the formal beauty of the starfish, Suzanne Belperron drew it faithfully for several brooch designs, made in various sizes and materials: a brooch in rock crystal with a pearl at the tip of each arm, another in carnelian also set with pearls, and a brooch in chalcedony with a natural pearl at its centre and a bezel-set diamond at each tip.

The curled, almost living arms give these jewels a movement that the hand-polished hardstone renders with particular softness. The press cuttings kept in her archives show that these designs caught the attention of the magazines of the time.

Magazine cutting from the press file kept by Suzanne Belperron. Olivier Baroin Archives.

The Sea Urchin bracelet, photographed by Vogue in 1936

The shape and delicacy of the sea urchin inspired a beautiful bracelet, photographed for Vogue in February 1936 and worn by a model in an evening gown. The central motif, shaped as a sea urchin set with diamonds, is fixed between two platinum bangles paved with diamonds that narrow under the wrist. A piece that shows the designer’s place in the fashion press of the 1930s.

Sea Urchin bracelet by Suzanne Belperron. Olivier Baroin Archives.

Model wearing a Francevramant dress, a Madame Agnès cap, a bracelet with scroll motifs, a brooch and the Sea Urchin bracelet by Suzanne Belperron. Photo by Herman Landshoff, French Vogue, February 1936.

No tropical fish: a rejection of naturalism

Unlike some jewellers who turned their windows into aquariums, with brooches shaped as tropical fish with fins of gold and precious stones, Suzanne Belperron almost entirely excluded them from her repertoire: she found their depiction too naturalistic. Only the seahorse won her favour, for its graphic beauty.

From the fish she kept only one motif: the scale. It gave rise to many rings and bracelets, in precious metal set with diamonds or carved in rock crystal.

Jean Herz-Suzanne Belperron advertisement, platinum and diamond bracelet. French Vogue, February 1948.

The seashell, a common thread in her work

In the marine world, it is above all her fascination with seashells that runs like a common thread, revealing the constancy of her preferences throughout her career. Pointed helical shells or spiral shells, always different: the profusion of these jewels bears witness to a lasting taste. These varied forms allowed her to meet one of her major ambitions, setting matter in motion, and connect with her work on volume.

Stylised Seashell lapel clip in yellow gold and platinum set with diamonds. Groëné et Darde maker’s mark. Artcurial.

Original plaster cast of the matching clip. Olivier Baroin Archives.

The seashell appears in all her favourite materials. Her own jewellery box held a pair of Seashell ear clips in carved rock crystal, gold and platinum, and her workshop gouaches multiply the variations of spirals and scrolls.

Stylised Seashell ear clips in gold, platinum and carved rock crystal, centred with a diamond scroll. Suzanne Belperron’s own jewellery box, private collection.

Gouache, designs for Seashell clips. Olivier Baroin Archives.

The sea stylised, never imitated

From the sea, Suzanne Belperron kept only the essentials: the symmetry of the starfish, the roundness of the sea urchin, the spiral of the seashell. This rigorous selection, which sets aside the picturesque to keep only the form, is the very hallmark of her style. Like all her creations, these jewels are unsigned: only the archives rediscovered by Olivier Baroin (gouaches, plaster casts, press files) make it possible today to authenticate them.