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. The links are full...
This is an original nineteenth century sterling watch chain with a round interlocking link. Close-up photos reveal the interlocking nature of the links. A great deal of ingenuity went into making chains, and there is nothing like an original long Victorian watch chain that retains its original length.
Watch chains of the nineteenth century served the function of allowing the watch to be retrieved from the pocket without losing grasp of the watch itself.
If you favor chains that are fu...
This is a long silver watch chain with alternating lengths of longer and shorter fetter links. For the better part of the nineteenth century, chains were fashioned laboriously using hand-working skills. A fetter link refers to a longer link which was used to reduce the number of links needed to fabricate a chain, thereby cutting down on the labor. The longer links are polished smooth while the shorter links have an interesting texture.
If you appreciate chains that are fully fabricated by ...
The longest watch chain we have ever come across, this authentic Sterling Victorian slinky watch chain has an unusual link. Victorian watch chains were worn by women, as well as men, to hang a watch, which would snap into the end of a long chain and tuck into a pocket or a belt at the waist. (This is why original watch chains were always very long. Shorter watch chains are part of a larger chain that has been cut down to make 2 or 3 necklaces). At 78 inches in length, our chain can be looped ove...
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.
Classical Victorian hallmarked bangle bracelet with three rows of tiny fleurons and X shaped patterns running horizontally across the bangle with reeding in between. Our bracelet is hallmarked 1883 Birmingham and is in pristine condition. It is approximately 1/8 inch deep, 1 inch wide, and measures a fairly ample 7 3/4 inch in diameter, suitable for most any size wrist.
Lovely carved bracelet of polished jet. Jet was a form of fossilized coal that was discovered in the town of Whitby, England in the late 18th century. This gave rise to a cottage industry that employed many in the town of Whitney in the 19th century, as jet formed the material for lightweight striking black jewelry forms which were perfect i to meet the unending demand for mourning jewelry during the Victorian era (owing to Queen Victoria's long extended period of mourning for hur late husband ...
Our keeper ring once had hallmarks but they are worn off, so we are estimating this ring to be from the late 1890's. Our ring has plaited gold work on the underside, a work of art of itself. A "Keeper" ring is a snug fitting ring worn to prevent the loss of a more valuable ring by keeping the larger ring from sliding off.
Keeper rings were also known as magic, or illusion rings, because of the illusion created by rotating the band causing it to appear to widen, to narrow, then to widen again...
Though the hallmarks show it to be of the Victorian era, this memorial band was made in the Regency style of the earlier part of the century. It is hallmarked for Birmingham, 1863. The words IN MEMORY OF are carved to the outside of the band along with raised religious and mourning imagery including Maltese crosses and fallen leaves. The gold-work is heavily chased. This ring was probably made as an advance order but never inscribed. Possibly it sat in some goldsmith's vault for years, which c...
Our substantial 18K Victorian buckle ring is hallmarked London for the year 1894 has two star set cushion cut diamonds set securely flush with the band. The clean and simple design of the ring makes it wearable for hand washing and most daily activities. Buckle rings were popular in the Victorian era. As it was the Queen's order, Victoria wore the symbol of the garter in the form of a buckle bracelet or buckle ring on her arm, as she obviously could not show the garter on her leg. The garter sym...
Substantial 18K antique Victorian snake ring with clever open cutwork on the gold band as shown in the bottom layer, an interesting detail on this handsome snake ring. Snakes were a symbol of eternal love and friendship and were popularized by Queen Victoria during her reign in the 19th century. Set with 3 diamonds, each larger than the next, in a pointed carved etching at the top of the snake's head, our ring is hallmarked London and dates to 1895. The ring is a size 8 ½.
Elegant Georgian pinchbeck Pendeloque earrings with decorative floral accents along the bottom widest part and an attractive carved flower at the ear. The bottom of the earrings are finished with a hand wrought gold ball. Pinchbeck is an alloy developed by Christopher Pinchbeck in 1720 to simulate gold. His alloy of copper and zinc looks like gold and does not tarnish.
The earrings are Georgian Pinchbeck Torpedo Drop Earrings with Decorative Floral Accents1 3/4 inches long and ½ inch at ...
Victorian Forget Me Not ring 15K set with six turquoise stones in a radial pattern, 3 supporting turquoises on each side and a diamond at center. The flower literally means “Forget me not” and the small rose diamond in the centre signifies eternal love. The band is ornately carved to enhance the delicacy of the ring. The ring no longer has hair behind crystal back but few examples have survived with this intact. The ring dates to C1880 and is a size 8.
Charming 15K Victorian gypsy ring with an old mine cut diamond securely imbedded in a polished gold band. The ring is hallmarked HM Chester 1890. This type of setting was popular through the late 19th century and well into the 20th. The diamond is securely flush mounted into the band. Flush mounted rings, otherwise known as gypsy rings, can be worn for everyday wear. The ring is great for stacking or worn alone, and with its hallmark and polished gold band is a fine ring indeed. The ring weighs ...
Wonderful tactile slinky watch chain. To be a proper watch chain, the chain must be over 50" long, as they were originally made (shorter chains are simply cut up watch chains). Snake chains are a favorite link because of the slinky smooth texture and the way the link bounces back when adjusted. The watch chain terminates in a barrel clasp, a nice feature as the clasp allows you to unhook the chain and wrap the chain around your neck several times to be worn as a collar, in addition to doubling o...
Double box link original Victorian watch chain terminating in a dog clip stamped 9 carat, this unusual watch chain with its faceted box links attached to one another reveals on close inspection an additional twisted link around each box link, adding interest and glamour to a simple box link watch chain. The link has a slightly yellow gold cast. Note in the photos the detail of the faceted box links as well as the additional twisted link.
The chain looks terrific when paired with others and a...
Our Victorian long guard watch chain is composed of an unusual and attractive love knot link. Such chains were called "long guards", and shortened to "guard chains". Watch guard link chains were generally light in weight and always over 50 inches in length. They were designed to hold watches with a dog clips and were originally worn with the chain tucked into a woman's belt with the watch attached to the chain. A great deal of hand work was involved in their construction.
This chain has a ...
Classic Victorian era pleasing large size round monogramed signet ring with an old english monogram carved in a carnelian hard stone with carved scrolls set into the 15K band. The ring is shown with an assortment of other signet rings in a similar shape. We think it looks terrific with others, or alone. The ring is .6 of an inch wide and .5 inches tall (15 mm wide and 12+ mm tall) and is a US size 10 and size-able.
Authentic Murphy family crest ring, complete with the motto and crest, all artfully carved in bloodstone (bloodstone is a dark green variety of chalcedony with red specks). The Lion Rampant stands in profile at the top holding a wheat sheath between his paws, the crest sits below and the banner with Latin motto Fortis et hospitales adorns the bottom of the ring face. The wheat is representative of abundance and the lion of strength and bravery. Irish crests always include a shield and a motto in...
Victorian Pietra Dura earrings of a butterfly, set in 9K gold. Pietra dura is a form of micro-mosaic made with pieces of hard stone such as agate, and cemented into black marble. It is also known as Florentine mosaic as Florence, Italy was the center of manufacture of these wonderful pieces. Red is a particularly rare color to find in Pietra dura. The earrings are set onto 14K ear wires.
Victorian 18K Carnelian agate swivel ring of a bearded man in profile. The fiery orange red glow of the Carnelian stone mesmerizes and the feel of the revolving swivel makes this a unique and very pleasant ring to won. The bearded unknown man is beautifully carved on one side while the other side is plain. The ring is .75 inches long and .5 inches wide and fits a size 7-7.5 and fairly large in scale and has great presence. The last photos show the scale of the ring relative to other signets.
Double portrait cameo ring in sardonyx, a variety of onyx and from the chalcedony family of stones, with the profiles of Venus and Mars overlaid in a pleasing contrast and further set on a carved rectangular stone in a 9K cigar band. Mars is shown in black at the foreground with his warrior attributes (helmet and armour) while Venus is portrayed in the background in white. We love the way each is carved from the same piece of stone then further mounted on another piece of stone. Our double portr...
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...
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...
Hardstone Portrait Cameo signet ring of a gentleman in profile. The ring was likely commissioned by a wealthy individual or statesman as a self portrait. The ring has a maker's mark for Henry Griffith & Sons, is hallmarked for the year 1852, Birmingham and stamped for 18ct. It was one of the earlier rings made by Henry Griffith & Sons which began in the year 1850 and continued in business until the early 1970's.
The ring has slight engraved indentations along the shoulders which follow the sh...
The Chi-Rho symbol dates back to the early days of Christianity and is formed by superimposing 2 Greek letters, chi (X) and rho (P), which are the first two letters of the Greek word "Christos", the anointed one, The Greek spelling is Χριστῷ. The Chi Rho as a symbol of Christ was frequented during the time of in the fourth century AD during the reign of Roman Emperor Constantine.
The Chi Rho is one of the earliest forms of the Christogram (monogram of Christ) and is formed from the fir...
c. 1810. 3 1/2" W x 6 1/2" L x 5" H. With two very small chips. Condition: excellent
c. 1800. Cup: 3 1/4" diameter x 2 7/8" height. Saucer: 5 1/4" diameter. Condition: excellent
c. 1810. 6 1/4" x 8". Condition: excellent
c. 1820. Cup: 3 1/4" diameter x 2 1/4"Height. Saucer: 5 1/2" diameter. Color over Adam Buck style bat prints. Condition: excellent
c. 1800. Cup: 3 1/2" diameter x 2 1/4"Height. Saucer: 5 1/2" diameter. Color over Adam Buck style bat prints. Condition: excellent
Mason's popular pattern in a hard to find soup plate, 9 1/4" diameter. Condition: excellent
c.1810, 11" x 7 1/2". Condition: excellent
Mason's originated this patten. These are marked Newstone # 2862. c.1820, 9 1/2" diameter. Priced at $ 725.00 each. Condition: excellent
c.1820, 9 3/8" diameter. Priced at $ 550.00 each. Condition: excellent
c.1830, $750 for each plate or buy all 18 for $13,500. Each plate measures 9 1/2" in diameter. Condition: excellent
c.1810, 8"L x 8"W. Condition: excellent
c. 1820, 6 1/4" H. Condition: excellent
C. 1820, 2 1/2"W x 6 1/2"L x 1 1/2"H. Condition: excellent
C. 1820, 1 1/2"W x 4 "L x 2 1/4"H. Condition: excellent
C. 1820, 1 3/4"W x 4 1/2"L x 2 1/2"H. Condition: excellent
C. 1820, 1 3/4"W x 4 5/8"L x 2"H. Condition: excellent
c. 1820, 1 3/8" X 2 3/8" X 3/4"Height. Priced at $ 1750.00 each. Condition: excellent
The Davenport Factories at Longport were established by John Davenport. Little is recorded about these pre-1830, high quality porcelains. Marked specimens are rare! This wonderful platter dates to around 1820 and is 8 1/2" X 10". Condition: excellent
c. 1810. 6" x 7 1/4" oval. Condition: excellent