Argentinian Art Retro gold necklace leads SJ Auctioneers sale

A 61-gram Argentinian necklace will do more than top SJ Auctioneers’ next sale: it will test how far collectors are willing to chase bold, gold-heavy Retro design. The late-1930s to early-1940s 18K piece, estimated at $12,000 to $18,000, will lead an online-only Collectible Toys, Jewelry, Silverware & Décor auction on Sunday, May 31, starting at 6 p.m. Eastern Time.

Its appeal is not subtle. Measuring about 16 inches long, the necklace was made from hand-drawn tubing formed from a gold sheet, then cut and soldered into a repetitive geometric pattern. That construction gives the piece the muscular, sculptural look that defines the Retro period, when jewelry design moved away from the crisp geometry of Art Deco and toward broader, bolder forms. Jewelry historians generally date that era to roughly 1935 to 1945, a range that helps explain why this Argentinian necklace reads as both historically specific and highly current.

The market signal is clear in the estimate. At $12,000 to $18,000, the necklace is positioned above a Tiffany & Co. flatware service for six in the Audubon pattern, estimated at $9,000 to $12,000, and above a David Webb signed diamond, 18K gold and black enamel flight pendant necklace at $9,000 to $9,500. In a sale cataloged at nearly 350 lots, the gold necklace stands out not just as the top jewelry lot, but as the object most likely to pull collectors toward weight, workmanship and pure presence over brand name alone.

That matters right now, because the sale mixes vintage gold with contemporary and luxury-name material. David Webb, founded in 1948, built its reputation on bold, sculptural jewelry, while Marco Bicego’s Africa collection, estimated at $1,500 to $1,800, is a modern 18K gold line made in Italy and known for hand-engraved gold spheres inspired by distant landscapes. Against that backdrop, the Argentinian necklace looks especially potent: not polished by a famous house, but made valuable by design language, country of origin, and a substantial amount of gold.

The catalog, live on LiveAuctioneers, also includes names such as Buccellati, Cartier, Louis Vuitton, Georg Jensen, Chanel, Patek Philippe and Baccarat, but the headline lot suggests where collector appetite is leaning. Statement Retro gold, once a specialist taste, is increasingly the kind of piece that reads as both wearable sculpture and a sharper vintage investment than more conventional, smaller-scale jewelry categories.