At present I cannot see the "stories" attached to Instagram posts, so I don't know what the gallery said.
The gallery's photo caption reads: "Archive photograph of a résille diamond and platinum necklace made by Cartier in 1904 for Queen Alexandra. It is set with detachable ruby and emerald cabochon drops. Alexandra wears it in a 1908 portrait that hangs in Buckingham Palace, and it was last seen in public worn by Queen Mary in the 1930s."
Obviously the ruby and emerald drops in the Cartier collier resille were detachable as seen in the 1913 photos where Queen Alexandra wears the necklace in an all diamond version with what looks like a large pear shaped pearl.
I've never seen such a large copy of the photo from the Cartier archives. What I find interesting and quite surprising is the way the ruby and emerald pendants are attached to the bottom diamonds. It looks as if simple spring rings were used to make them removable, which would be a rather rough and unrefined way to achieve versatility – and hardly what I'd expect from Cartier.
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