Fairy Favour

Antique Ring With Verneuil Ruby & Diamonds In Gold & Silver, ca. 1910

€ 1,290.00 ^*

Content 1 piece

Incl. VAT, Shipping

Antique Ring With Verneuil Ruby & Diamonds In Gold & Silver, ca. 1910

Description

This description was automatically translated from German. If you have any questions about this piece of jewellery, we will be happy to help!

"Those be rubies, fairy favours" - "These are rubies, fairy gifts", it says in Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream. The red shining stone in the center of this ring is also a gift from a special hand. And at the same time a special piece of jewellery history. It is a ruby from the hand of a French chemist who revolutionized the jewellery market in the years shortly after 1900 with a new process for producing gemstones in the laboratory! The demand for the love-red stones has always been greater than the supply. The fact that Auguste Verneuil was able to grow rubies in his laboratory from 1902, which were hardly distinguishable from natural stones in structure and colour, was therefore an immediate, great success and the stones advanced to the dernier cri of the fashion world. Just how widespread and appreciated synthetic rubies were at the time the ring was created is shown in an essay by the German mineralogist Dr. Alfred Eppler, who wrote of them in 1910 in the Deutsche Goldschmiede-Zeitung: "Since science and technology have advanced so far as to produce beautiful artificial rubies, some of which have succeeded so exquisitely that even the most subtle aids of the scholar threaten to fail in distinguishing them from the natural ones, why should one limit their possible uses?" (Alfred Eppler: Synthetische Edelsteine, in: Deutsche Goldschmiede-Zeitung 7 (1910), p. 61f., here p. 62). The red shining stone in the center of the ring here is set in the center of a flower, the petals of which are each set with a diamond. Additional diamonds are set on the ring shoulder. The petals and ring shoulders of the ring, which is actually forged from gold, are therefore covered with silver to make the diamonds shine brighter. The ruby alone is held in place by a gold bezel setting. According to its hallmark, the ring was made in Germany or Austria.

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Still in 1918 it was said: "For the distinction of the synthetic ruby from the natural one, an absolutely reliable distinguishing feature seems not to have been found up to now". Rather, goldsmiths suddenly had every conceivable shade of red at their disposal - "from the dark Siam ruby to the light pink ruby" - and this was not dependent on lucky finds. Just like natural rubies, synthetic rubies were set in precious metal settings alongside diamonds, and the present ring is an example of this development. Cf. on the history of ruby synthesis Jaqcues Boyer: Die synthetischen Edelsteine, ihre Geschichte, Herstellung und Eigenschaften, Berlin 1918, there also above quotes, p. 39.

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Size & Details

Fairy Favour

€ 1,290.00 ^*

Content 1 piece

Incl. VAT, Shipping

Our Promise

We want you to be 100% satisfied! For that reason, we examine, describe and photograph all of our jewellery with the utmost care.

You can rely on our years of experience in the trade and our expertise as a professional art historians for reviews of the antique jewellery. As a member of various trade organisations and the British Society of Jewellery Historians, we remain committed to the highest possible degree of accuracy. In our descriptions, we always also indicate any signs of age and defects and never hide them in our photos – this saves you from any unpleasant surprises when your package arrives.

Should you for some reason not be satisfied, please don’t hesitate to contact us so that we can find a solution together. In any case, you can return any article within one month and we will refund the full purchase price.

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