Maria Felix Alligator Necklace
During her career, Mexican actress Maria Felix was known to have a love for reptiles. She wore snake jewelry throughout her life.
She commissioned Cartier to create a necklace with two articulated crocodiles that could be worn separately or as one. The crocodiles are made of yellow diamonds and emeralds.
Size
Maria Felix was a legendary actress who crossed genres and collaborated with some of the greatest artists of the world, including Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo and Jean Cocteau. She was also a wildly stylish woman and one of the most avid jewelry collectors in the world, owning everything from antique Indian jewels to contemporary creations by the most established French jewellery houses.
Her taste was characterized by her central American origins and she could be found wearing colourful silk dresses with large capes and always accompanied by huge jewels, such as this Cartier necklace featuring an alligator with rubies in the eyes. It is a true one of a kind and it has made Maria Felix an icon in the fashion world.
In the 1970s, she commissioned a pair of crocodile necklaces from Cartier at their Rue de la Paix boutique in Paris. She brought a baby crocodile with her to the shop, and the artisans were able to replicate the reptile as closely as possible, using gold, diamonds and emeralds. The crocodiles can be worn together as a necklace, or separated into two bracelets.
The necklace is set with 524.9 grams of gold and the crocodiles have 1,023 fancy yellow diamonds and 1,060 circular cut emeralds. This crocodile necklace is a rare example of Cartier’s reptile inspired jewellery, which has been crafted since 1910.
Another famous piece in her collection is the crocodile hoops earrings, which she acquired during her marriage to Jorge Negrete, an actor who died shortly after their marriage. The snake hoop earrings are bold and have turquoise enamel covering the scales on both the head and the tail, with little rubies in the eyes. They are a true one-of-a-kind and are far from the typical snake earrings you would expect to find at Cartier, but they are still Parisian savage which is to say elegant.
It seems that she grew to love crocodiles, but it is not entirely clear why she had this necklace made. She was not known for her wealth and she had homes in both Paris and Mexico City, as well as thoroughbred race horses.
Shape
Mexican actress Maria Felix — aka La Dona — was known for her bold personality on and off the screen. She is most remembered for her role in Dona Barbara (1943), which earned her the title “the supreme goddess of Spanish language cinema.” In addition to film, Felix worked with artists across genres and continents, including Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Jean Cocteau, and Octavio Paz.
Her flamboyant style and eccentricity also made her one of Cartier’s most important customers. She commissioned numerous animal-shaped jewelry pieces throughout her career, including a double crocodile necklace and a snake hoops earring.
In 1975, she visited the Cartier flagship on Rue de la Paix in Paris carrying a live baby crocodile. She asked the jeweler to make a necklace shaped like her pet reptile that could wrap around her neck and be worn as a single bracelet.
The necklace is made from 524.9 grams of gold and set with 1,023 fancy yellow diamonds and 1,060 circular cut emeralds. It is a rare and beautiful piece that was made for an extraordinary woman.
As a result, it has become one of the most precious and famous jewels in Cartier’s archives. And it was only natural that the brand would pay tribute to her by releasing several high-jewelry executions of the design, each a one-of-a-kind work of wearable art.
Today, the crocodile necklace is a coveted item for many collectors, and it was recently featured in an ad campaign by Egyptian model Sabri for the brand’s Panthere de Cartier collection. As the image above shows, it is a bold and stunning piece of high-jewelry that will be sure to please fans of the legendary actress.
This crocodile necklace is the inspiration for an entire collection of Cartier jewelry designed for the legendary actress Maria Felix, or “La Dona”. It’s one of her most recognizable and iconic designs.
She was a strong and independent person, with a distinctive and bold personality that has been celebrated and admired for generations. She was a true icon in her native country, and her films have remained popular to this day. Among her other accolades, she was awarded with the National Prize of Mexico and the Order of Distinction from the President of the Republic.
Materials
Maria Felix was a great fan of luxury and she was an avid collector of everything from antiques to paintings, furniture, and of course jewelry. Her passion for jewels began in her early twenties and she would regularly go to the Cartier store on Rue de la Paix in Paris and ask them to make her a special piece inspired by her pet crocodile, which she had brought along with her when she visited.
When it came time to create the necklace, she wanted it to be made of gold and encrusted with diamonds. In addition, she wanted it to have a crocodile head shaped like a crown and the eyes to be adorned with emeralds.
This necklace is one of the most iconic pieces in the world and it is now owned by the Cartier brand. It was also lent to Monica Bellucci for her red carpet appearance at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006.
The Mexican actress Maria Felix is known for her dazzling style and the most impressive jewels she owned were from the French jewelry house Cartier. These were some of her most spectacular pieces, which she frequently wore in both public and private life.
She was a huge fan of reptiles, which she identified with their symbolism of creativity, wisdom and strength. She wore snakes on her wrists, anklets and ear hoops for decades.
Among her most impressive jewels was the double crocodile necklace she asked for in 1975, which is now part of the Cartier collection and was designed by Gabriel Raton. The necklace is shaped like two intertwined crocodiles that hug the neck and can be worn as brooches.
The crocodiles on this necklace are made from a combination of yellow diamonds and circular cut Colombian emeralds. They are articulated with interior frameworks and have a total of over 1,000 emeralds and rubies set into the eyes.
This crocodile necklace is an incredible creation, and it is now considered to be one of the most spectacular pieces in the world. It has been exhibited in different exhibitions around the globe thanks to the brand of Cartier which now owns it.
Price
During the golden age of Mexican cinema in the Forties and Fifties, Maria Felix was one of the most important actresses. She crossed genres and was known for her bold and unique personality.
She also admired exotic animals and loved to wear jewelry that represented them. It was these traits that made her a favorite of Cartier.
During her life, she collected many luxury pieces of jewelry that dazzled anyone who saw them. Her collection was a reflection of her bold and original personality, with a touch of glamor to it.
The most renowned piece of jewelry from her collection was the double crocodile necklace designed by Cartier in 1975 for her. It was a piece that could be worn as a necklace or separated to make two brooches.
This unique necklace is a true work of art that was designed for her by Cartier’s artisans. The crocodiles were crafted in gold and feature emeralds, rubies and yellow diamonds.
After the actress’s death in 2002, the crocodiles became part of the company’s historical archive and were lent to Monica Bellucci for her red carpet appearance at Cannes Film Festival 2006. In addition to that piece, Cartier has released four high-jewelry executions of this renowned necklace.
Maria Felix was a star of Mexican cinema in the Forties and Fifties, known for her elegant appearance and enchanting charm. She was a fan of luxury, collecting antiques, paintings, furniture and clothes, as well as her biggest weakness: jewelry.
She was a loyal customer of Cartier, and the brand would make a number of eccentric commissions for her. She was a great lover of snakes and alligators, and she wanted them in her jewelry.
In 1975, she visited the Cartier Rue de la Paix boutique in Paris with a baby crocodile and a very unusual request for its jewelers: She wanted them to make a necklace that mimicked her pet reptiles in every detail. After careful study and sketching, they created a necklace that was composed of two articulated crocodiles that hugged the neck.
This incredibly unique necklace was one of her most cherished possessions and is now in the history books as a Cartier classic. It is a highly sought-after item that can be seen in numerous movies and advertisements.
Maria Felix Alligator Necklace