Antique French Art Nouveau Aquamarine and Gold Brooch

Sometimes when I’m shopping, I buy things because I know that I can sell them, or because the price is right or because it’s a nice example. Other times when I’m shopping I buy things because their artistry and beauty simply overwhelms me and once I pick them up and hold them I’m not capable of putting them back down. When I was sitting in my friends office on New Bond Street and they put this fabulous French Art Nouveau brooch in my hand I simply could not put it back down, I pinned it to my scarf and out into the street together we went. For your consideration is this most wonderful French brooch. Hand crafted in France in about 1900 and is set with a bright, sparkling, oval faceted aquamarine which measures 14.8x11.50x9.50 and weighs about 8.86 carats (or probably a bit more because the stone has quite a large pavilion - that’s the belly of the stone, below the girdle). The brooch measures 61 mm across and 22.5 mm north to south at the widest point, it is marked on the C clasp with