18K cigarette holder with spiral engraving on the third nearest the cigarette hole. There are a few small round diamonds set into the area of the spiraling. The remainder of the holder is fashioned with gold links which end at a tortoise shell mouth piece.

See more objects with the tag smoking, luxury, nightlife, personal accessory.

Object Timeline

	We acquired this object.
1928	Work on this object began.
2016	We photographed this object.
2017	We exhibited this object.
2024	You found it!

Cigarette Holder, 1928

This is a Cigarette Holder.

This object is not part of the Cooper Hewitt's permanent collection. It was able to spend time at the museum on loan from The Carolyn Hsu-Balcer Collection as part of The Jazz Age: American Style in the 1920s.

It is dated 1928. Its medium is 18-karat gold, diamond, tortoiseshell.

By the 1920s most jewelers in the United States and Europe carried smoking accessories. The cigarette holder protected one’s fingers and eyes while also playing a significant social and fashionable role. Although men used cigarette holders, the Jewelers’ Circular credited the rise of female smokers to the cigarette holder industry, which used a great range of materials and eye-catching styles.

It is credited The Carolyn Hsu-Balcer Collection.