For those of you who follow me on social media, you know that I post weekly about Georgian- era jewelry. There's even a piece of jewelry featured in every full-length novel that I write. For my posts on FB, Twitter, and stories on IG I share a piece that was sold at auction, is held by a museum, or was available for sale when I found it. Rings, necklaces, cufflinks, tiaras, real stones or pastes, anything from the long century (1714-1837) is fair game.
Today I'm excited to share a piece from my personal collection. I should say up front that this collection currently has one piece 😂
Acrostic jewelry was popularized at the beginning of the nineteenth century and were love tokens with a secret message. The first letter of each stone spells out a term of endearment or a romantic word. Common words were REGARD and ADORE. They were typically a half-hoop ring or were across a locket. Mine is a cluster ring.
This ring has a diamond, two emeralds, amethyst, ruby, sapphire and a topaz and spells DEAREST. I've spent a few years looking for a cluster ring with two emeralds for the Es instead of one, with a topaz not a turquoise for the T, one that isn't a reproduction, and in my size because not every ring can be resized. Plus, one that was in my price range, let's be real.
This piece is from Eye of the Cat Jewelry. Jennifer was wonderful and answered all of my questions. I mostly wanted to know how old it was, and her estimate was 1837-1860. That's early Victorian rather than late Georgian, but it was close enough for me!
This acrostic ring has an old mine diamond at the center with a gemstone surround. It has repoussé metal work and a closed back setting. Repoussé means that it was hammered into relief from the other side and, in this case, it's the scrollwork that decorates the shoulder.
It will be a long time before I have another personal piece to share. But, if anyone sees a pair of clear paste Georgian pendant drop earrings, be sure to let me know.
Find me on social media to see more #GeorgianJewlery What kind of jewelry posts do you like to see? What piece should I incorporate into a future book?
Comments