Refined Late Victorian Opal and Diamond Necklace, British, c. 1900

Lady of the Mist

Refined Late Victorian Opal and Diamond Necklace, British, c. 1900

€ 8,980.00 ^*

Content 1 piece

Incl. VAT, Shipping

Description

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

At the end of the 19th century, a gemstone took the fashion world by storm: the opal. Opal had been known for a long time. However, newly discovered deposits in distant Australia were now producing wonderful precious opals of outstanding quality. So people quickly forgot the superstition that the gemstone brought bad luck, which had only emerged two generations earlier in Walter Scott's novel Anne of Geierstein, or The Maiden of the Mist (1829), and instead enjoyed its wonderful play of colors. This necklace was created in the wake of this fashion. Ten high-quality precious opals adorn it with their expressive color reflections. Iridescent pink and green reflections appear on a bluish-green background. The opal cabochons have been arranged on a garland of diamond-studded leaves as if they were precious exotic fruits. "An excellent combination indeed, as the diamonds lend their brilliance to these semi-precious stones and thus create wonderful color effects," one read about this combination of materials in the "llustrirte Damen-Zeitung" Der Bazar as early as 1889. The necklace was created in Great Britain, which had access to the most beautiful opals on the gemstone market through its Australian colonies. We were able to discover it in London. It has been preserved in the antique case of the Pidduck goldsmiths from Hanley, who were active for over a century and a half. There is also a handwritten reference to a Lady Eldon on the back of the inlay, together with the name of the Earls of Eldon's stately home, Encombe House. If she was the first owner of the necklace, this may be Henrietta Minna Turnor, Countess of Eldon (1844-1921). This would fit perfectly in terms of time, as we date the necklace to around 1900.

Size & Details

Lady of the Mist

€ 8,980.00 ^*

Content 1 piece

Incl. VAT, Shipping

Our Promise

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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.

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Lady of the Mist

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