late victorian emerald and diamond ring by: debbie
Hi Yvonne Thankyou for your reply to my post. I was just wondering if i should get my ring insured? if so how much would you recommend ? Debbie
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Possibly as early as 19th Century by: Anonymous
Hi Debbie,
the stones around the green stone look like marcasite not diamonds, (in the photo) they were substitutes for precious diamonds. Marcasite has been used in jewelry making for a long time. Around the late 1700's, the Swiss began to produce Marcasite for the European market, apparently to bypass the "Sumptuary Laws" which forbade the use of diamonds by all but the most aristocratic.
It is interesting that Silver and not White gold was used, in combination with the yellow gold, this indicates it's an older ring.
You may encounter white gold jewelry described as Antique, or sometimes even dated to the late 19th century and although it is often difficult to establish a specific date for many jewelry items, the use of Silver (SIL) as opposed to white gold gives some clear dating clues. Most white gold jewelry dates from the 1920s and later..So if it is silver and yellow gold it will most likely be earlier.
It looks like a 19th century ring in the 18th century "style" evocative of the court of Queen Marie Antoinette that Empress Eugenie, tried to imitate.
The amazing colored green stone at center would probably be a paste substituting for emerald, as synthetics emeralds have only been in the market since the 1960s. I'm sure if it was a natural emerald of this size and color the pawn broker would have offered to buy it =)
