AN EMERALD AND DIAMOND NECKLACE, BY PEDERZANI Composed of fifteen rows of faceted emerald beads with four connector bars pavé-set with brilliant-cut diamonds, highlighted throughout with similarly-cut diamond rondelles and Lily of the Valley buds, with removable diamond-set Lilly of the Valley bouquet, each terminal bar pavé-set with further similarly-cut diamonds, to a multiple hoop-link chain with spherical diamond-set clasp, mounted in 18K gold, signed Pederzani, with maker's pouch, length approximately 37cm (adaptable) Pederzani is a renowned Italian jewellery house located in central Milan. Its founder Gino Pederzani was originally from Verona and began his career as a clerk in jewellery shops, where he learned about precious gemstones. The turbulence brought by World War II forced Pederzani to move from Milan to Porto Ceresio, where he commuted to work in the city. He struck up a great friendship during this time with Mr. Nannini, a director of a jewellery maison in Milan. In 1943, the pair decided to go into business together and they opened up Nannini-Pederzani jewellers that same year. When Mr. Nannini died in 1947, Gino Pederzani continued to run the business under his own name Pederzani. Gino decided to open his eponymous workshop in an old stamping shop on Via Montenapoleone and officially opened for business on 20 November 1947. Three decades later, Pederzani had established itself as a highly reputable name among Italian jewellers, and in 1976, the aging Gino handed the business down to his two sons. The maison flourished under the leadership of Gino’s son Claudio throughout the 70s and 80s, who ensured that the firm became renowned for the distinctive creation of heart-shaped diamond cuts and ‘fancy yellow’ diamonds. From the 1990s onwards, a third generation of Pederzani’s now ensures that the legacy of their grandfather Gino Pederzani lives on.