Jewellery, Watches and Objects of Vertu

A gold and diamond band ring, by Gerda Flöckinger, the textured finish with applied sweeping linear detail, with gold beaded highlights and collet set to one side with two brown brilliant-cut diamonds, stamped maker’s mark ‘G.F’ on circular plaque to inner shank, ring size M. £900-£1,200

Born in Innsbruck, Austria in 1927, Gerda Flöckinger came to England in 1938, and studied at St Martin’s School of Art and the Central. In her early work she experimented with enamels and rough gems. From the early 1960s, she came to rely more on the flame and on fusion techniques, arriving at an intensely original and personal style. incorporating texture and fluidity. Movement is very evident in her work, supplied by using fine rods of half melted spiral threads, as seen in this particular example.

She was the first living female designer to have an exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1971, and again in 1986. In 1991 she was recognised by Queen Elizabeth for her contribution to the arts and awarded a CBE.


See: Hinks, P., Twentieth Century British Jewellery 1900-1980, Faber and Faber, pages 125-127.