Cecilia Tono Mexican silver modernist Chain Necklace

When I first started my love-affair with vintage Mexican silver jewelry, I found myself intrigued by the work of artists whose names were not among the first ones a new collector would focus on. I love a challenge and seeking out “less celebrated” maestros who nevertheless created superbly crafted jewelry in imaginative designs became my “mission”. I have written in the past that “Cecilia and Tono are one of those well-hidden, well-kept "secrets" vintage Taxco holds for those of us who continue the search beyond the obvious and the famous”. And here I am, lucky enough to be presenting a classic-for-the-duo long chain necklace. Ornate sterling links, hand-wrought beads and blue stone tubes (some kind of agate or re-constituted turquoise, maybe?) come together in a long, slender, slick necklace. Whether worn alone or combined with similar chains, this is a striking, elegant piece…

Size / Weight: 40 3/8” long by 5/16” wide; 58.4 grams

Hallmarks / Date: fully signed with both Cecilia’s and Tono’s signature as well as “STERLING TAXCO 925” and des. no 92; please note that the pins running through the stone tube links are silver-plated rather than sterling but everything else is tested and guaranteed to be solid silver; mid- to later 1940s

Condition: very good vintage with stone tubes in a beautiful, rather rare darker “robin’s egg” blue, heavy patina (you can polish more, if you please) and eye-catching presence; no repairs and no unsightly damage noted yet there is a small chip off the stone tube right next to the box part of the clasp as shown in one of the photos; it is not offensive to the eye, especially due to its position on the back of the neck, but I have taken it into account in my pricing

Inv# 15962