1920s Art Deco simulated agate necklace by Louis Rousselet

This remarkable French necklace by Louis Rousselet is a wonderful example of early Art Deco costume jewellery.

It comprises uranium glass beads that were hand made to resemble natural red agate with subtle shading and swirls in the glass. The lozenge shaped and smooth round beads are separated by small pitted clear crystal rondel spacers which add glimmer and light to the necklace.

The beads are strung on a chain which fastens with a signature silver and black striped barrel clasp stamped “Made in France”. The necklace measures 44 cm long.

Louis Rousselet was a French beadmaker and jewellery designer who founded the Rousselet Company in Paris in the 1920s. He became one of the outstanding beadmakers of the twentieth century, employing around 800 people producing handmade, polished lampwork beads, often with baroque shapes to emphasize their individuality and always of exceptional quality.