Modernist Amethyst Cabochon Collar Necklace

The necklace organizes twelve large amethyst cabochons into a low, continuous arc, giving color the discipline of architecture without making the collar rigid in appearance. Its silver frame is reduced to two clean bands: an upper curve that follows the neck and a lower curve that widens the front into a shallow crescent. Between them, the stones sit as measured intervals, each oval held in a setting that preserves a narrow margin of open space around it. The effect is neither floral nor pictorial. It is a study in cadence, with violet forms suspended inside a polished silver structure.

Sigi Pineda’s design depends on the contrast between the even sweep of the collar and the natural variation of amethyst. The cabochons do not sparkle like faceted stones. They gather light more slowly, with depths of purple that shift from smoky to bright as the necklace turns. That quiet optical movement matters, because the silver itself is so controlled. The lower rail reflects the body and the surrounding room as a continuous line, while the repeated stones interrupt that reflection at regular points. At a wearable length up to 16 inches, the necklace belongs to the close collar format, where small changes in spacing, curve, and weight are immediately felt. Here the front is visually substantial, but the open construction keeps the composition from becoming a solid bib.

The marks recorded on the necklace, including Sigi’s older marks, Eagle 36, and design number 336, place it within the working system of Sigfrido Pineda’s Taxco shop in the 1950s. Hougart documents Eagle 36 among the eagle numbers associated with Sigi Pineda and records Sigi marks of the period that combine the Sigi name, Tasco, Hecho en Mexico, Sterling, eagle stamps, and design or inventory numbers. Hougart also notes that some of Sigi’s work carries such numbers, which is important here because 336 is not decorative information. It is evidence of a shop practice in which modernist invention was organized for repeatable production without losing the identity of the design.

Pineda’s own formation helps explain the necklace’s economy of line. Morrill and Berk describe him as an artist who moved among several materials, including ceramics, blown glass, wood, and silver, and who returned repeatedly to silver as his central medium. They record his early apprenticeship in Iguala, his three years at Los Castillo, and his work at Margot de Taxco, where he oversaw silver enameling before opening his own place of business, first called Plateros and soon renamed Sigi. That background did not produce a derivative style. Morrill and Berk observed that his designs stood closer to international trends than much contemporary Taxco work, especially in their simplified, smooth, organic forms and integrated compositions. Stromberg likewise identifies Sigi’s elegant work with the influence of the New York School and Mexican Modernism.