Victorian cabochon sapphire ring with rose-cut diamonds

[canuk-gal]

Date: 6/25/2008 9:53:54 PM
Author: glitterata
Oh, no, I''m not a jeweler--just a jewelry lover. I learned everything I know about gems and jewels on Pricescope. Well, Pricescope and eBay, and a few knowledgeable friends. But I don''t have a lot of money to spend on this very expensive hobby, and I''m cheap by nature, so I have to learn as much as I can so I''ll recognize the deals when I see them. I have a large collection of jewels so weird or unfashionable that nobody else wanted them, so I was able to get them at a good price. (I don''t mean that I think this ring is weird, though I guess it''s a little unfashionable. In this case I just lucked out.)

HI:

No one who saw your collection could ever suggest you were "cheap"! Need Rich Sherwood to the rescue.......

cheers--Sharon

 

[glitterata]

That''s sweet of you, Sharon! And I guess nobody who buys as much jewelry as I do has a right to brag about her thrift. But I''m terrible about wanting beautiful things and not wanting to pay what most jewelers would charge for them, so I do most of my jewelry shopping on ebay and flea markets and police auctions and places like that, looking for things that are mislisted or misunderstood. I sometimes go into jewelry shops and look at the treasures, but when I hear the prices I never buy--it''s usually two or three times what I could find something similar for. If I were a retail jeweler, I would hate me. (Though I do sometimes help the jewelers make sales to other people by gushing knowledgeably about how beautiful their pieces are.) In my next life, I would like to be an antique jewelry dealer.

 

[jewelerman]

I think your ring is very fashionable!Im sure that many collectors would find it interesting.I sure do!Post the other jewelry pieces from your collection!

 

[glitterata]

Well, let's see... I'll hunt around the board for some pictures I've posted before.

First my great treasures, my grandmothers' engagement rings:

My wedding ring with my Grandma Rose's engagement diamond, an OEC, reset in a repro Edwardian setting (long story), and on my middle finger my Grandma Dorothy's deco wedding set from 1929:

Another shot of Grandma Dorothy's ering:

My talon ring, made from a mid-19th century man's cravatte pin, probably European, with a small old mine pear cut diamond:

Closeup of the pear:

The ring in my palm, back view:

My retroengagement ring from my husband--he never gave me an engagement ring, since I already had the two from my grandmothers. So after we'd been married a few years he gave me this. It's a late 18th century English miniature on ivory under glass:

A Victorian hair bracelet--the Victorians made wonderful jewelry from their loved ones' hair, & I collect the stuff:

Another hair bracelet:

My favorite Victorian set, made of steel wire, probably in England or Germany in the first half of the 19th century:

My favorite Goodwill purchase, a set of gold earrings and brooch from the mid-19th century, probably American:

A scenic agate brooch, I think from the 1920s, though I could be wrong:

The Victorian garnets my mother gave my grandmother; they're much redder and livelier in real life:

And here are a couple of threads I borrowed these pictures from; they have more stuff, if anyone's interested:

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/a-selection-of-my-collection.33199/://www.pricescope.com/idealbb/view.asp?topicID=33200

 

[glitterata]

Oh, this is maddening! I guess it's not displaying the pictures properly because my browser doesn't understand about paragraphs.

I'm testing to see if I can get it to make paragraphs.

test

test

Any Mac users out there want to offer some advice?

Okay, it seems to work with Opera. I can't post at all with Safari, and Firefox won't do paragraphs correctly, but Opera seems to work. Now I'll go see if I can get the long post full of pictures to work...

 

[glitterata]

Maddening, maddening, maddening. Now it won''t let me edit my own posts.

Anyway, those links I tried to post above are:

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/a-selection-of-my-collection.33199/

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/a-selection-of-my-collection.33200/

 

[chrono]

Wonderful finds! The sapphire has that lovely watery look and the piece appears to be in good condition. Can''t beat that price either.

 

[jewelerman]

Wow!I think you have some great pieces!the agate brooch is in my opinion is pre -1920s because this style was very pupular in the 1905- ish period plus the length of the pin back finding has length that suggests an earlier period.The ivory ring is a real beauty as is the set you found at the good will...fun story!Im trying to decide if the ivory ring is a memorial ring or the equvilant of a promise ring.I know that both types of jewelry on ivory had birds and water fountains that represented love and also love for a passed loved one.You have a nice collection that you should be proud of !!

 

[innerkitten]

Glitterata, Great stuff! I''m with you on the thrifty part by the way. There is something exciting about a great deal if you can find one. Have you been to the Alameda flea market? They have a couple of vendors with antique and vintage jewelry.

 

[glitterata]

Thanks for the compliments, everyone.

Innerkitten, no, I''ve never been to the Alameda flea market--I''ll have to check it out next time I''m in that part of the world.

Jewelerman, I believe my ring is a love token rather than mourning. I have a lot of mourning jewelry, but this one doesn''t have the usual urns or willows or black enamel or pearls, amethysts, etc. Nowadays people tend to assume sentimental jewelry is related to mourning, but lots of it was about love between living people. Of course, I could be wrong. As you say, they used these symbols for both love and mourning.

I''m sure the agate brooch is more recent than you think, though. I bought on ebay it from a blurry photo of the front, thinking it was from the 1890s-1910s, but when I had it in my hands and turned it over I saw that it must be later. In fact, I''m not sure it''s even as old as the 20s. The pin you see in that photo is not the end sticking out, it''s the entire pin, which I opened to take the picture, since the stone is translucent and it was showing through. The pin is shorter than the brooch itself, and the clasp is a rotating safety clasp. Here''s a photo of the back; sorry it''s rather small:

And here''s a photo of the front, with the pin closed:

Thanks for your patience with all these details--I feel like an antique jewelry nerd.

 

[pamplemousse]

Well, if you feel like an antique jewelry nerd, this is probably the best place to be. I think you''re in good company.

That sapphire ring is gorgeous (I love

rose cut diamonds!) and the rest of your collection is amazing. Thanks for sharing!

 

[jewelerman]

Glitterata,
I have enjoyed discussing antique jewelry with you because you do bring up good points in the brain storming.You really could work in antique jewelry with your insight.Thank you for posting the back of the pin.The clasp does change the decade of the piece,but it still has age(1920s may be the appropriate era even thought it could go as late as the early 30s) and was a good choice for your collection.

 

[glitterata]

For what it''s worth, I spoke to a confident young man at my favorite flea market today, a jeweler who repairs and sells antique jewelry. He was there shopping. He thought--based on the way the rose-cut diamonds were set--that my sapphire ring was French, from the 1830s. He thought the sapphire was from Burma, based on the horsetail-like shape of some of the silk inclusions.