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Augustin Julia-Plana. A coloured diamond brooch, attributed to Augustin Julia-Plana, the circular satin-textured brooch four claw set with a light brown brilliant-cut diamond, with an estimated weight of approximately 1.10 carats, circa 1970, stamped 750, S mark for Simon Schlegel, diameter 4.0cm (VAT charged on hammer price) Please note that the coloured diamond has not been tested for natural colour origin Augustin Julia-Plana was born in Mataro, near Barcelona, in 1934. In his youth, he was a talented track and field athlete, and in 1954 was the Spanish 4 x 400m relay champion. After military service, he attended art school and then decided to go abroad to pursue his career. In 1963 he joined the Swiss jewellers Simon Schlegel, in Bern, before formally partnering with Schlegel in 1968 as Schlegel & Plana.  Julia-Plana and Schlegel enjoyed a successful partnership together, designing and producing jewels for a number of established European firms, amongst them the French firm of Aldebert, and the Dutch firm of Bonebakker, as well as for watch firms such as Clerc and Yves Saint Blaise. They also counted fashionable women of high society amongst their clients, with Princess Soraya of Iran reportedly being a patron.  Julia-Plana was known for using unusual materials in his designs, such as wood, meteorite, maw sit sit, and oxidised iron, selecting materials for their innate beauty rather than monetary value. He won a number of awards in the course of his career, including multiple German jewellery awards, and four Diamonds International Awards. The De Beers Diamonds International Awards, which began in 1954, was considered the ‘Oscars’ of the jewellery industry, and rewarded beauty, originality and imaginative use of materials. Julia-Plana won his first Diamonds International Awards in 1965, for a ‘V’ shaped bracelet of structured gold links decorated with diamonds, and won the award a second time in 1967, for a bracelet of shell shaped links, set with diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds. In 1969 he won the award for two separate designs, one ring set with diamonds and lapis lazuli cubes, and one brooch with tiger’s eye plates and diamonds (in a similar design to that of the brooch in lot 353), and in the same year gained membership of the Diamonds International Academy, joining fellow designers such as Andrew Grima and Gilbert Albert.  Julia-Plana tragically died at the height of his career in 1979, at age 45, of heart failure.