Magnificent Antique Gold Ring with Sapphire & Diamonds, c. 1880

Sparkling old-cut diamonds surround a deep blue sapphire in two concentric ovals. What looks like a magnificent flower is one of the most popular jewelry motifs of the 19th century: the entourage. Numerous rings vary this idea of making a large colored stone shine with a single or sometimes, as here, a double ring of sparkling diamonds. One look at this ring immediately explains why: the bright light of the diamonds - a total of 2.37 ct of diamonds are set here - complements the blue light of the natural sapphire wonderfully. The ring was created around 1880, as the cuts of the diamonds reveal. Their shape changed from decade to decade until the modern full cut finally prevailed in the middle of the 20th century. By the end of the 19th century, however, the cuts were a little more individual, less standardized and the light of the stones softer. It is a great pleasure to look at the individual stones under a magnifying glass and notice their very own contours, which are still determined by the shape of the diamond crystal created by nature. The gemstones are set in gold. This type of setting with fine prongs was a great innovation in the last third of the 19th century. Previously, gemstones had been set in wide bezels, which made the jewelry more opulent but could also detract from the effect of the stones. The delicate prongs, on the other hand, as shown in this ring, appeared almost invisible to contemporaries. In Edith Wharton's 1920 novel The Age of Innocence, a ring like this one is given as an engagement present. The plot is set in the 1870s. The protagonist Newland Archer chooses a ring with fine prongs: "The engagement ring, a large thick sapphire set in invisible claws, met with her unqualified admiration." His mother-in-law comments: "In my time a cameo set in pearls was thought sufficient." The shape of the setting is thus also meant as a statement against the conservative society of his time; Archer thus demonstrates his modernity. An independent certificate has confirmed the quality of the gemstones in the ring, which we discovered in Stuttgart.

Estimation:€10,590

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