Catalog: Antiques: Decorative Art: Jewelry (230)

Lovely sapphire ring with three large sapphires and four small diamonds, an unusual variation of the form of a classic five stone half hoop diamond ring (the each pair of small diamonds read as one larger diamond). Five stone rings were crafted to show emphasis on the gemstones. The ring is set with the gemstones "a jour", or "open to the day", meaning the ring can be worn for hand washing and is appropriate for everyday wear. The stones are polished and clear...

This a rare poesy holder, of sterling silver with an intricate cased foliate design and long pin and ring attached. Known also as Tussie-Mussies, the posy holder was a lady's fashion accessory resembling a small vase and meant to to hold the bouquet of flowers brought by a courting 'gentleman caller'. To show her acceptance of him, the lady would secure the flowers into the posy holder with the attached long pin and wear the holder to a ball...

Lovely early Victorian sterling silver paste pendant with a border of paste stones and royal blue enamel, most likely was a pendant given as a gift to a loved one. The beautiful blue color represented innocence and virtue and was probably given to a young woman by her suitor. Women adored their paste jewelry as much as their diamonds, so the use of paste stones indicates this was likely owned by a member of the "upper crust". The pendant is approximately 1 1/4 inches.

The term "pique" comes from the French word "piquer" (to prick) and describes a method of inlaying gold or silver onto tortoiseshell. The craft was discovered and perfected in the 17th century by the French Huguenots. The Huguenots later taught the craft to English jewelry artisans. These classical pique earrings with their Greek key design, are a perfect example of the sophistication, polish, depth and natural beauty of pique jewelry...

The sporting craze in Victorian jewelry started in the 1890's and continued into the 20th century up until WWI. Encouraged by women's more active participation in sports, such jewelry was particularly fashionable for country wear. Our bangle is a slightly more modern version of the Victorian silver bangle, with a silver ball in the center of the tennis racket as the main motif, and stylized leaves to the left...

C.1860 18ct Pietra-Dura Flower Brooch Antique 18K Gold Pietra Dura Brooch, Italy C.1875. Oval shape brooch with fine pietra dura floral green, robins egg blue inlay colors,and white and gold flowers as accents. 18K surround gold mount with 8 gold X's soldered symmetrically around the gold border.

Lovely gray lava beads which were inspired by the ruins of Pompeii in Italy. Lava jewelry was actually made from the lava of Mt. Vesuvius as souvenir jewelry fro travelers on the Grand Tour. Notice how the beads are properly graduated, as one would only see on early jewelry made before mass production. The smallest beads at the clasp gradually getting larger until the central bead, which is appropriately the largest and the place where the eye is drawn to.

his is an original nineteenth century sterling watch chain with a substantial square shaped link called a Venetian or box link. Closeup photos reveal the interesting interlocking pattern of the links. A great deal of ingenuity went into making chains, and there is nothing like an original long Victorian watch chain that has never been chopped up into shorter chains, but retains its original length. If you favor chains that are fabricated by hand, this chain is a real find...

This is a silky smooth gorgeous original French watch chain. Silky smooth about the neck, it has a wonderful texture as only 18K gold has. There is a French eagle's head on the clasp showing its French provenance.

Wonderful Victorian 18k gold fringe earrings that will swing and sway as you walk down the street or dance the night away. Beautiful cannetille bead work, the earrings measure 2" long from the top of the ear wire to the bottom ball of the longest fringe.

Striking Victorian banded agate earrings set in 15K gold. The brown and black tones make them wearable with any color. The earrings measure 1" in diameter and date to 1890.

Our C1890 15K link original watch chain has 19 natural pearls interspersed symmetrically along our exceptionally long chain at 67", with 18 pearls arranged around the chain in perfect symmetry and the 19th single pearl arranged symmetrical to the clasp. The chain feels incredibly light and silky smooth about the neck, almost weightless. It is so long it can be worn tripled without even removing it from your neck, simply fold it over another time around your head and it is tripled...

A very modern looking Niello locket with a modern design on its face and back in black enamel and silver. This most unusual locket would look wonderful hanging from your silver chain. The locket has a Weiner Workstatte (English: Vienna Workshop) graphic style. It is likely this locket design was a Victorian predecessor to this most creative and short lived Austrian movement in the Fin de Siecle...

Our Victorian silver arrow brooch is handcrafted with a high degree of skill insuring the stone is perfectly and painstakingly carved to fit its mount. The warm colors of the Scottish agate and the matte finish all combine to make this a wonderful brooch. The arrow was an important Victorian motif representing protection from danger; thus the arrow symbolized maintaining and protecting life...

Our star stamped chain link bracelet is made up of two strands of 9 carat gold chains set parallel to each other and soldered together in at three places along the length of the bracelet, which gives it movement. The bracelet has small round links each of which are stamped with little stars. The back of the bracelet is identical to the front, also stamped with stars on each round link...

We love our wonderfully esoteric Grotesque man (or "other") crafted by a talented unknown carver in the 19th century from a chunk of the most desirable orange-red toned coral. Connoisseurs of literature or theater or the arts understand the term Grotesque as referring to fantastical, exaggerated or distorted representations, usually of the human face or figure...

Early C1860 Victorian Marquise shaped ring of 15K gold, silver, enamel and diamonds set in a floral and leaf design. Wow! how fantastic! The stylized leaf form with young diamond buds harkens to the expression “nipped in the bud”, when mourning one who dies too young. The ring is a size 5.5 and can be resized to fit.

The symbolism and motifs behind the Victorian bangle bracelets, with their quaint floral bouquets and plants and trails of leaves well known. Our Sterling silver bangle has two carved stylized vases of flowers on either side, a vertical array of flowers next to each and at center, what appears to be two vertical daisies and leaf tendrils. This bracelets are quintessentially Victorian; sentimental jewelry always had associated meanings behind different flowers...

This is an original 18th century Gouyn period porcelain Chelsea fob seal. These seals were given as love tokens by the wealthy and known as "toys". This particular seal features a woman dancing and holding out her apron on either side. She has a low cut pink bodice and a skirt with a mini print pattern on the front and stripes on the back, and reads "Toujour gai", meaning "Always happy". Charles Gouyn, a French jeweler , with Nicholas Sprimont a silversmith founded the Chelsea Factory in 1...

Unusual paste earrings with three curved lines of paste gemstones dripping from a central paste cluster. Paste earrings rose in popularity in 18th century France when improvements in domestic candlelight made the appeal of such glittering gemstones soar.Paste is a type of leaded glass which was first created in the 1600's, but only in the 1700's did it achieve a level of perfection, and it was in the Georgian era that the most beautiful paste jewelry was created. Paste was popular in France and ...

These lovely 18K day-night floral gold cannetille earrings boast one of the finest examples of cannetille gold work we have ever seen. Popular in both England and France in the 1820's, cannetille was a type of filigree work named after the gold embroideries of the Napoleonic era. It lasted for a brief 2 decades, making it easy to date a piece of jewelry that is as fine an example of cannetille as these. Typical of Georgian design, the tops of the earrings can be separated from the bottoms making...

15K gold fede or love ring with two hands coming together to enclose a gold heart with a single rose-cut diamond embedded in a carved star at the center. The word "fede" means faith. The clasped hands motif has been used since Roman times. The ring is US size 8.25.

Bold pave set chrysoberyl ring in 18K gold. The stones came from Portuguese mines in Brazil. Fabulous jewelry was made from the various gemstones exported from these mines until the French invasion of Portugal in 1809. The ring is size 7 1/4 and can be sized up or down.

Regency Period, circa 1820 fob seal with a translucent image of an 18th century bearded man in a beret, perhaps robed. This swivel fob is 1 1/4 inches in width with a beauifully carved repousse jump ring that is just shy of 1 inch. This is really a two-fer- you get a beautiful swivel fob to hang as a pendant and the built in hand forged matching repousse jump ring allows you to hang it from your chain, along with additional pendants if you choose. The jump ring is attached to a 15K stationary ba...

Three inch long day-night earrings with a lovely rococo design that incorporates foliate and shell motifs set with Persian turquoise and enlivened by the two-color 15K gold. The earrings have a secure hook on the back of the drop part of the earring, not typically seen on Georgian day-night earrings. This enables enabling them to easily be separated and worn with just the tops (for day), or both top and bottom (at night). The mechanism attaching the two pieces can be viewed in the photos.

Georgian 18K gold cannetille work ring set with a carved turquoise in the shape of a pair of clasped hands, a symbol of friendship. On either side there are set an opal and a garnet. This is truly an unusual and rare ring. It is a size 7 and measures a bit over 1/4" at its widest.

Dramatic 18K gold marquis shaped ring in royal blue and white enameling surrounded by pearls and centered with a pearl pansy. This distinctly English style of enameling on jewelry was invented in 1775 and became popular with royalty and is often seen on jewelry displaying royal crowns.

Fantastic Georgian 18K gold cuff bracelet with an elaborate woven band and ornate central motif. Beautiful to wear on the most elegant of occasions. Be prepared for an avalanche of compliments. The bracelet measures 7 1/2" long and 2" at its widest.

Stunning early 19th Century Berlin Iron earrings with a floral motif which is highlighted with polished steel. Berlin Iron was sought after by Napoleon who invaded German and captured the factory, confiscated the molds and took them back to France in 1806. Today this unique and fascinating jewelry is as prized as it was back then. The earrings measure 2 1/2" long and 3/4" at their widest.

Fabulous Georgian Pinchbeck muff chain with a hand clasp set with colored paste stones. Christopher Pinchbeck developed an alloy of copper and zinc in 1720 that had the look of real gold and did not tarnish. The jewelry made with this alloy survives today giving us the enjoyment of its beauty. A muff chain is a long chain worn around the neck fastened to ladies muffs. This chain measures 49" long by 1/4" wide.

Early Victorian or late Georgian half hoop 7 stone ring with 7 well matched turquoise stones set in cabochon, with the largest turquoise in the center and each stone graduated in size, as is typical of a hand carved Georgian ring. The borders of each stone are crimped, an attractive detail. The shoulders of the ring are chased in a lovely hand carved pattern. The back of the stones reveal lovely hand carved gold work. The ring can be sized up or down within reason.

This is an original 18th century Gouyn period porcelain Chelsea fob seal. These seals were given as love tokens by the wealthy and known as "toys". This particular seal features a nun with her gilded black cape holding a staff and reading from a book. The seal reads in red letters, "Amour Spirituel", ("Spiritual Love"). The black cape with gold edging is in particularly fine condition. Charles Gouyn, a French jeweler, with Nicholas Sprimont, a silversmith founded the Chelsea Factory in 1743...

This is an original 18th century Gouyn period porcelain Chelsea fob seal. These seals were given as love tokens by the wealthy and known as "toys". These seals were given as love tokens by the wealthy and known as "toys". This particular seal features Cupid holding a spy-glass to his right eye, his left hand on a globe a quiver slung behind him, concave bottom. It reads in crisp read letters, "'ouvrage pour autrui", "work for others". Charles Gouyn, a French jeweler , with Nicholas Sprimont ...

This romantic amethyst 18k necklace has a smooth and sultry snake chain that feels as good as it looks. The glittering large five amethysts fall symmetrically about the chain and always fall perfectly on the neck, with the central largest amethyst positioned exactly at the center. The clasp is hidden in the chain and remarkably easy to attach as it slides right in and holds firmly and securely. The necklace can easily be clasped by the wearer. Amethysts were very popular in Georgian times and be...

Colorful depiction of a peasant girl graces this micromosaic brooch purchased during the Grand Tour and brought back to England to be set in an elaborate 18K bezel decorated with grapes and leaves. The glass tesserae are set in malachite.