Cartier Cipullo pendant, $24,000 ($28,800) at Weiss Auctions.
Less well known is its designer, the Italian-American Aldo Cipullo (1942-84).
Cipullo came up with the idea for the Love Bracelet in 1969 when lamenting the break-up of a relationship.
His employer, Tiffany & Co, turned him down. Cartier New York said yes, however, and sold them in their thousands at $250 each.
Cipullo was one of Cartier’s most successful designers during the 1970s but it is only relatively recently that his name has come back to the fore. That another of his seminal creations, the 1971 Nail bangle, was revived in 2012 with great success has helped. So too has the 2021 book Cipullo: Making Jewelry Modern by jewellery historian Vivienne Becker.
Pendant appeal
Cipullo’s name is now working its alchemy in the saleroom. Breezing past its estimate of $5000-8000 at Weiss Auctions (18/15% buyer’s premium) in Lynbrook, NY, on July 18 was another Cartier Cipullo design from 1971, the articulated hamsa or khamsa pendant. Like the Love Bracelet, it was made at the time in different materials, either set with semi-precious stones or, as here, made in solid 18ct gold.
Not much more than a decade ago these sold for around $3000- 4000. However, after another in gold and hardstone offered by Bonhams Skinner in May this year took $14,000, the market looked to be heating up. So it proved when bidding at Weiss Auctions reached $24,000 ($28,800).
