Extraordinary KJL "Treasures of the Duchess" Brooch and Earrings in Original Display Case!!

Another Exceptional Demi by the Modern Master of Costume Jewelry-- Kenneth J Lane--in it's Original Box!!

Now this is one of those rare finds that you wish you could find everyday.  As the title says, this is a contemporary Demi by Kenneth J Lane, from his "Treasures of the Duchess" line of jewelry, still in it's original box!!.  Since I am unable to find this anywhere online, I believe this to be a retired line of jewelry, but I understand that this was a very large and successful line for Mr. Lane and if the other pieces are anything like this set, I long to see more of them.  This is an absolute work of art!

If my research has serves me correctly, I believe that this Demi was created as part of a set of replicas of the jewels that belonged to the Duchess of Windsor.  The only Duchess of Windsor that I'm aware of is Wallis, the wife of Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor and once King of England, who abdicated his throne in 1936 in order to marry Wallis, the love of his life.

Work by KJL is always difficult to date, and much of his recent work has been for sale on QVC television, a home shopping network.  This set could very well be from that venue as the signature which reads (c)KJL with no periods suggests.  It also might not be from that venue, and I'll never know for sure as I don't have a list of his jewelry that was sold on QVC as reference.  In my opinion, it doesn't matter where this magnificent set was purchased, as it's quality is beyond compare.  Every stone is well set, the metallic sheen is flawless, and the pieces seem to have been made to last for a very very long time.  It's apparently a rather rare set to find too, as I've been searching for it online for nearly a week now, and have only been able to find the earrings in one other location.

I'll be honest here.  I don't have any idea what the light purple/lilac petals of this Demi are made of.  They aren't cold to the touch, so I don't think that they are glass, but they are heavy enough to be..  That leaves them to be made of some sort of plastic, but the luminescence and glow of this sort of plastic eludes me as to the type.  I can't say it's Lucite, but I don't think that it's any sort of resin compound either.  All I can say is that it's beautiful!   I would imagine that the art glass cabochons were sapphires on the original piece, but what KJL has done here has certainly accentuated the set to give it a surreal beauty of it's own, thus preserving the integrity of Wallis's original brooch.

The brooch is a 5 petal flower made up with free-form lilac colored petals (all seem just a little bit different.) accented with a silver-tone mounting of  8 amazing sapphire swirl art glass cabochons.  The mounts attached to each petal of the flower are capped with a single clear crystal rhinestone --most likely Swarovski, judging by the facets and the clarity.  It is a heavy, quality piece of jewelry measuring 2 1/2" in diameter in all directions (it's circular.)  A clip attachment on the back allows the brooch to also be worn as a pendant rather than a brooch, thus expanding it's versatility in the wardrobe.

The earrings are clip-on, and made from the same material as the brooch/pendant.  They have the original ear pads to provide comfort while wearing (which are still snow white and pristine!)  Each petal on the earrings is accented with the same sapphire art glass cabochons as the brooch but also have a full metal stripe of the Swarovski crystals running down the center of each petal.  They measure  1 1/2" tall, and then 1" side to side.

Condition:  This set is in Excellent--Near Mint condition.  I don't think that this set has ever been taken out of the box, until the point where I took these photos.  I can find no damage...no scratching, no chipping, nothing on any part of this set.  The box however is another story.  While it's fully intact and in very good condition, one can tell that it's been packed away, opened, and admired a few times over the years since it's manufacture.

Price:  $225.00

Or Make an Offer!

The outside of the original box is a red design, with an unusual symbol on it.

Close-up of the Sapphire Swirled Art Glass Cabs.

Signatures and metal details.

Shot of the backs of the Demi.