"Flawed but perfect" raved Vogue of Verdura's creations in December 1940, hailing the jeweler's "beautiful polished pebbles, fished from the bottom of the sea and caught in a net of gold." Preferring the wider palette range offered by semi-precious stones, Verdura set vibrant hued "pebbles" in rich yellow gold, evoking the opulent Byzantine treasures he had first discovered with Coco Chanel during their tour of Europe in the early 1930s.