61. JEAN DESPRÉS: SILVER RING Of circular form, decorated in the centre with a stylised nut, the setting in blackened silver, French hallmark for silver (800 ‰), master hallmarks for Jean Després, finger size 62, gross weight 52.82 g. Jean Després (1889-1980) enjoyed a prolific career, particularly notable during the 1920s and 1930s, periods marked by great artistic effervescence and a quest for novelty. During the 1910s and 1920s, several artistic movements such as Purism, Bauhaus and Cubism sought to replace ornament with functional geometric forms. Influenced by these movements, particularly Braque, Jean Després developed a personal style combining cubist aesthetics and mechanical modernity. Surrounded by renowned artists, he was fully integrated into the creative world of the period, initiating the rise of the Art Deco style. Over the following decade, he gradually asserted his style, moving away from traditional jewellery and adopting an aesthetic inspired by industrial design, marked by the strength of its shapes and mechanical rigour. His rings, with their geometric lines and powerful volumes reminiscent of engine parts or architecture, transformed precious objects into functional sculptures. Through these creations, he imposes a radical language in which modernity is expressed without artifice, in the raw material and precision of gesture. This ring is a variation on an "engine part" model exhibited at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.