Catalog (382)

Sparkling Victorian cut steel earrings with faceted balls, leaves and circles. Cut steel was popular in England for its luster and shine in candlelight. Each tiny stud is hand cut and embedded in a metal base plate. Cut steel was the only form of jewelry made by steel workers and was a huge industry in the 19th century. It should be noted that while the jewelry was riveted by steelworkers, the polishing of the jewelry was done by local women, in a cottage industry of sorts. These earrings meas...

Sterling silver ring with a horse shoe motif as its central feature, set in sterling silver, complete with hallmark and maker's mark S & G. Silver jewelry was popularized in the last quarter of the 19th century because of the discovery of the Comstock Lode in Nevada in the 1860's, which had the effect of greatly increasing the world supply of silver. The band integrates with the central horseshoe and that is how we know it was originally and cleverly designed to be a horse shoe ring. Ano...

HM 1916 Birmingham, our Victorian "message" ring with the word "Mizpah" engraved on either side (Miz on one side of the turquoise forget-me-not and Pah on the other side) is an example of the romantic message jewelry that was so popular in the era. The word Mizpah is a Hebrew word that symbolizes the bond between two people separated by an act of war or other forced estrangement. The message comes from a quote in the Old Testament book of Genesis and reads "And Mizpah; for he said, the Lord watc...

This antique 18K (marked) lover's knot ring with hallmarks for Chester, 1912, is the most substantial lover's knot ring we have ever encountered in our years of collecting antique jewelry. We love everything about the ring, beginning with the solid feel of this chunky gold ring, to its hand forged sinuous intertwined bands of gold, some with charming incised flourishes. We also love the polished band that is over one quarter of an inche wide all around; the essence of solidity. The love knot...

Twin hearts, long a symbol of everlasting love, are set here with pearls, a symbol of purity and wisdom, surrounded by old European cut diamonds and crowned with a bow. The double hearts signify the couple ( "our hearts beat as one") while diamonds symbolize fidelity and everlasting commitment. This romantic Victorian ring is a superb example of an ageless motif. Ring size 6 (almost a 6.25) and can be sized to fit.

This unusual mid nineteenth century Gold and Silver Diamond Cluster ring is a variation of the classic Victorian cluster ring with a twist. The twist is that the the flower cluster is actually set in a mount of silver, with pear shaped diamonds set in 8 "leaves" of gradually increasing size, perfectly asymmetrically symmetrical. Then the silver mount is further set atop a gold mount and the band is finished in gold. Such a design could only be accomplished with rigorous and exacting hand labor ...

18K Oval Rose Cut diamond ring with an abundance of rose cut diamonds, 28 on the border alone, surrounding a trinity of large diamonds at center and smaller diamonds as embellishments on either side of the trinity. The diamonds are set in the classic cut down setting of the Georgian/Victorian period. Diamond rings, by the 19th century were most often used as betrothal rings (having replaced the posey rings of the eighteenth century). Note the drawing of a similar diamond ring in our photo ar...

Delightful Victorian hallmarked 1865 Birmingham multi-stone ring with two large diamond shaped garnets in the center, surrounded by emeralds and enveloped by a beautifully engraved 15K gold band on either end. We love the contrast in both size and color of the stones. The final photos show how pleasing rings from this decade of 1860-1870 look together on the hand. This ring is not sizeable because the band is engraved all around and sizing would ruin the engraved pattern. It is sized US 7 ...

Silver jewelry was made to appeal to the "working girl" who desired beautiful and well made jewelry in European society. After Queen Victoria's Silver Jubilee in the third quarter of the 19th century, silver cuff bracelets were incredibly popular. Silver cuff bracelets extremely collectible today as they were well made and no two pieces were alike, each was unique in its own way. We are particularly enthralled with this modern take on a classical Greek element, a lavender enameled Greek key whi...

Late Victorian signet ring, hallmarked for the year 1907-1908 and monogrammed with initials WW or MM, carved to a polished gold face and set into a band with carved scrolled shoulders. The ring featured on this listing is modeled on the ring finger. We think it looks great with other signet rings or by itself. The ring is fairly large in scale at over a half inch wide and a half inches tall (1.4 cm North-South and 1.2+ cm East-West), US size 8 and size-able.

Twentieth Century 14 Karat Blue lapis lazuli signet ring of German or Austrian origin, with initials SVC and a charming intaglio of a stylized castle. The band has a purity mark of 585 on one side and a maker's mark on the other. The ring is hand engraved in the inside of the band with "Van Vater, March 12 1985", German for "From Father, March 12 1985". The ring dates from 1975-1985. It was likely sold by the jeweler as a custom carved engraved signet ring; the lapis stone would have been set in...

Charming 18K Victorian diamond cluster ring with 9 diamonds, hallmarked for Birmingham in the year 1892 with a large center rose diamond surrounded by smaller diamonds and hand set with a decorative band of carved flourishes along the shoulders. The diamonds are set in silver. Nineteenth century diamonds are more understated than machine made modern day diamonds and they are always natural. This diamond is set open backed and can safely be worn everyday. This would make a lovely engagemen...

The ‘toi et moi’ style describes an engagement band on a coiled band, with two gemstones coming together where the band meets around the finger. The toi et moi translates to "you and me" and symbolizes the union of two people, a wonderfully romantic sentiment. Our Toi et Moi diamond ring has two rose cut diamonds set in a yellow gold band trailed by 5 graduated accent diamonds on each side along. The piece de resistance is the small diamond that endearingly reaches out from each toi et mo...

Our 18K Victorian Regard ring is a romantic acrostic ring set in a linear formation, with six gemstones in which the initial letter of each spells the word 'Regard': Ruby, Emerald, Garnet, Amethyst, Ruby, and Diamond. The 18K band is delicately ribbed all around. The overall profile of the ring is slender with gemstones that are the same size. This makes our REGARD ring ideal for stacking, as shown in the photos. Similar to ADORE, DEAREST and DEAR rings, REGARD rings were romantic messag...

Edwardian 18K yellow gold ruby ring with three clear rubies and two diamonds, in the form of the five stone half hoop ring, with the emphasis on the gemstones. The ring is set "a jour", or "open to the day", so the ring can be worn for hand washing and is fine for everyday wear. The stones are polished and clear. It measures US 7 ½ and the head of the ring is 18MM wide.

nusual, rarely seen signet ring with a striking stone of banded agate. The ring has a very small cartouche stamp on the back, it could possibly be the harp indicated Irish origin. Banded agate is a form of quartz with parallel bands of black and white resulting from mineral deposits layering over time, thus the term “banded.” The carved scrolls along the sides are a distinctly Victorian feature, often seen on gold bands during this period and they help to date the ring. The tiny dots carved ...

This is an unusual ring that is a crossover between American Colonial and English Victorian. The ring has as its face an actual $2.50 Liberty coin from 1861 but is wrapped in a polished 18K English mount. Minted from 1840 - 1907, our American Liberty coin ring with the authentic gold USA Gold Quarter Eagle was originally legal tender worth $2.50. This was a substantial amount of money at the time of minting in 1861. The USA Liberty Gold Coin is 90% pure gold and weighs 0.1209 troy ounce. Th...

Authentic Victorian 15K Albert Link Chain with original T BAR and dog clips from which to attach your favorite locket or pendant. The chain is stamped on every link with the 15Ct 625, indicating English heritage, and is 17.8" long. The T bar and dog clips are stamped the same. Alberts are named for Prince Albert who popularized the wearing of a vest with pocket watch and a fob on a chain, the watch in the vest pocket, with fob and T-Bar dangling. Our chain combines two important Victorian motifs...