in the form of a Greek cross in yellow gold with ornate wirework decoration, mounted with button shaped pearls with four rose cut diamonds on each arm and to the centre, applied with gold lettering spelling ‘NIKA’ (victory), with undulating crossbars between each arm, each topped with a pearl.
Height: 4.6cm
Ernesto Pierret (1824-1898) moved to Rome from Paris, where he trained as a young man. He opened his first shop in Rome in 1845, and is listed in 1867 in Murray’s ‘Handbook to Central Italy and Rome,’ which praised his creations in the Classical style. After his marriage in 1865, Pierret moved to a Renaissance palazzo at 20 Piazza di Spagna in the heart of the jewellery quarter. His wife’s father was a papal lawyer and his connections to the Vatican provided the firm with distinguished customers. According to an advertisement, they counted among their clientele the Queen of Italy.