The tassel has been used as decoration at least since the time of the ancient Egyptians — one made of gold and silver was found in the tomb of Tutankhamen — but for fine jewelers, its heyday was the 1920s, when hemlines rose to the knee as waistlines and necklines plunged. The flapper’s boyish silhouette became the ideal, leading to the popularity of the sautoir, a long necklace often ending in a tassel, strung with tiny pearls or gemstones, that nestled against the breastbone. It could be twirled languidly as one stood in sophisticated conversation during the cocktail hour — a ritual that was born during that heady era. Bulgari, the Rome-based house founded in 1884 by the Greek silversmith Sotirio Bulgari, was responsible for creating iconic versions of such Jazz Age passementerie, and has never stopped innovating the form. A dangling tassel is the focus of this new jewel-encrusted convertible sautoir, which can be worn nine ways, including as a brooch, pendant or choker, and features a 10-carat antique cushion-cut ruby from Mozambique. Like the light at the end of Daisy Buchanan’s dock in “The Great Gatsby,” it is made to shimmer, forever, in the night air. Bulgari Magnifica High Jewelry necklace, price on request, (800) 285-4274.
