A solid eighteen carat yellow gold bracelet featuring six vitreous enamel nautical flags. Some pieces of jewellery display well. Wear well. Are important in either make, or maker. Sometimes there are instances where all of these elements combine to produce something so iconic, recognisable and unique they stop you in your tracks. Add into that the fact this bracelet was made by arguably one of the most important jewellers of the mid to late 20th Century, and made for arguably the most prestigious luxury atelier of them all; Hermès. Sprinkle all that magical star dust into one piece of jewellery and it is history coming to life on your wrist

The maker of this iconic bracelet is Georges Lenfant. Lenfant was one of the great behind-the-scenes names of twentieth-century French jewellery. Establishing his Paris workshop in the early twentieth century, Lenfant became renowned for the exceptional quality of his goldsmithing, producing jewellery for some of the most important maisons in Paris, including Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and Hermès.

The workshop became particularly celebrated for its mastery of gold chain. Under Georges Lenfant and later his son Jacques, the atelier produced beautifully articulated, woven and braided forms in gold, combining considerable technical skill with a remarkable fluidity. During the mid-twentieth century, Lenfant manufactured a number of important pieces for Hermès, including bracelets, necklaces and other jewels incorporating the house’s distinctive equestrian and nautical motifs.

Among the most recognizable is Hermès’ Chaîne d’Ancre. Originally conceived by Robert Dumas in 1938 after observing the anchor chains of ships, the design became one of the house’s enduring signatures. Lenfant was among the specialist Parisian workshops responsible for producing important gold interpretations of Hermès designs during this period.

Pieces carrying both the Hermès signature and Georges Lenfant’s maker’s mark are particularly interesting and sought after. While Hermès was responsible for the design and commission, the Lenfant mark identifies the workshop that actually made the jewel. It is a wonderful meeting of two names, combining the unmistakable design language of Hermès with the exceptional goldsmithing of one of France’s finest twentieth-century ateliers.

The bracelet is designed in the form of the very distinctive charm bracelet style. A gold chainlink bracelet upon which links are added containing miniature items collected over the years, trips and/or special occasions. In this playful adaptation upon this theme, and rich in the Hermès/Lenfant relationship and language here we have a bracelet with one plain, thick oval link, which house the flags, and a traditional braided rope style link. From the plain links hang six unique, bright and colourful flag charms. These all relate to the nautical alphabet. With each flag spelling out a letter in the alphabet. Here it spells out: H E R M E S!

Long before radio communication, ships needed a simple and reliable way of speaking to one another at sea. The solution was a language of brightly colored flags, designed to be easily recognized from a considerable distance and understood regardless of the language spoken by the crew.

Early forms of naval flag signaling had been used for centuries, but during the nineteenth century the system became increasingly standardized as international shipping and trade expanded. Britain’s Commercial Code of Signals, introduced in 1857, was an important step toward what would eventually become the International Code of Signals used today.

The system assigns an individual flag to each of the 26 letters of the alphabet, along with separate numerical pennants. The flags can be combined to spell names and messages, although many have a specific meaning when flown individually. The letter O, or Oscar, for example, signals “man overboard,” while Q, or Quebec, was traditionally used by a vessel requesting clearance to enter port.

What makes these flags so appealing today is their wonderfully simple graphic quality. Bold colors and geometric patterns were born entirely from necessity, allowing each flag to be quickly distinguished even in difficult conditions at sea. Yet together they created an instantly recognizable visual language that has subsequently found its way into jewellery, clothing and decorative design.

There is something particularly charming about an object decorated with nautical flags. What at first appears to be simply a colorful geometric pattern can actually contain a name, initials or even a hidden message, using a language originally created for communication between ships at sea.

The bracelet is presented in superb condition. The solid eighteen carat yellow gold bracelet and charms are fully signed with both makers marks, French poinçon marks and the hand engraved Hermès name that was customary at the time in its jewellery. Each letter on the reverse of the flag is also hand engraved and each flag has a maker mark and French eagle control mark. The easy to open, but secure clasp on the bracelet is incorporated into one of the links and is seamless in the overall design. The bracelet is a generous 7.25 inches long, and each flag measures 0.75" by 0.5".

This bracelet appeals to so many people; Hermès fans, nautical/boat owners and fans, collectors of nautical jewellery, Lenfant collectors and charm bracelet collectors. As far as we have been able to establish, we have not been able to uncover another example like this. It is possible that it was a private commission in the Paris boutique. If more than one was made it is likely in a special collection and unlikely to come to market!

Made in France, circa 1960's