Catalog (2409)

A beautiful enameled silver patch or pill box by Nicholai Alexeyev. The hinged box is fully covered with enamels worked in shades of opaque white, aqua, periwinkle and royal blue, accented with translucent red and green. The cover and bottom are worked in a stylized starburst pattern, while the sides feature floral banding flanked by traditional triangular and dotted patterns. Exposed areas of silver are stippled and lightly gilt. The interior is also gilt. The interior of the body and lid are marked with the Moscow city mark, the 88 standard, and the maker’s mark for Nicholai Alexeyev. The lid closes securely and can be used as a functional pill box, if desired.

Origin: Moscow, ca. 1890. Condition: excellent, no enamel damage. Size: 2-1/8” diameter; 1” high. Weight: 53.0 grams.

A pretty ring converted from a French 18K rose and yellow gold and ruby stick pin. The design shows a detailed rose gold snake curled around a yellow gold flower. The serpent's head is set with an antique cushion cut ruby of rich red color. The 18K gold snake is mounted on a 14K gold band.

In Victorian times, the snake was used to represent never-ending love. Prince Albert gave a snake ring to Queen Victoria on the occasion of their marriage.

Size: 6-1/2 (can easily be sized up or down). Dimensions: snake, 11/16" x 3/8". Weight: 1.9 gr. Approximate Total Ruby Weight: .04 ct.

A delightful ring converted from a French 18K rose and green gold and ruby stick pin. The design shows a pair of ruby cherries hanging from a pair of green gold leaves (the photos are upside down). The rubies have a nice red color the perfect shade of juicy, ripe cherries. The 18K gold design is mounted on a 14K gold band.

Cherries are rife with symbolism ranging from the eternal soul to female sexuality. This ring would also be great for someone from Michigan!

Size: 6-1/2 (can easily be sized up or down). Dimensions: crown, 1/2" diameter. Weight: 1.7 gr. Approximate Total Ruby Weight: .06 ct.

An elegant ring converted from an antique French 18K gold and diamond stick pin. The design shows a coiled snake with a diamond-set head. The 18K gold snake is mounted on a 14K gold band.

In Victorian times, the snake was a symbol of everlasting love, without beginning or end. Prince Albert gave a snake ring to Queen Victoria on the occasion of their marriage.

Size: 6-1/2 (can easily be sized up or down). Dimensions: crown, 1/2" x 5/8". Weight: 2.4 gr. Approximate Diamond Weight: .01 ct.

A fabulous ring converted from an antique French 18K gold stick. The fleur-de-lis is beautifully embossed with lots of detail. A delicate row of three natural seed pearls accents the design. The 18K gold crown is mounted on a 14K gold band.

The fleur-de-lis ("lily") was the traditional symbol of French royalty.

Size: 6-1/2 (can easily be sized up or down). Dimensions: crown, 1/2" x 11/16". Weight: 1.9 gr.

A wonderful figural fob seal depicting England’s patron St. George defeating the dragon. The design is worked primarily in silver, but the horse’s bridle, the dragon’s dorsal ridge and the saint’s spear and shield are worked in yellow gold. The gold base encloses a flat malachite that was never engraved. Tested and guaranteed sterling silver and 18K gold.

Origin: probably England, ca. 1860. Condition: very good, some light dings on the mounting around the stone consistent with age. Dimensions: 1’ x 5/8” x 1-1/16”. Weight: 15.9 gr.

An exceptionally fine French 18K yellow gold ring in the form of a lion's head flanked by a pair of winged griffins that coil around the finger. The lion grasps a round blue sapphire it its jaws. The sapphire has rich coloring and is deeply saturated. The design is entirely hand-chased and pierced. The ring is signed, but is only partly legible "CU**R." It is also marked with the master goldsmith's stamp "AP" and with the French 18K mark. Mythological subjects such a griffins were very popular in French jewelry just before the onset of the Art Nouveau era, and this is very fine example.

Origin: France, ca. 1880. Condition: excellent, sharp detail. Finger Size: 9-1/2. Dimensions: 9/16" wide at front, tapering to 1/4" at back. Approximate Total Sapphire Weight: .36 ct. Weight 11.4 gr.

An elegant yellow gold ring featuring a rare blue-to-violet color-change sapphire surrounded by seed pearls, converted from an antique stick pin. The sapphire has extremely fine clarity and excellent cut, but the best part is the marked change of color depending on lighting conditions. The stone appears a vibrant violet shade in incandescent light and royal blue in daylight. The sapphire and pearls are elegantly backed with a hand-pierced gallery. The setting is 15K (marked), and the ring shank is 18K.

Origin: the original stick pin was English, ca. 1870. Dimensions: crown, 3/8" diameter. Finger Size: 6-1/2. Approximate Sapphire Weight: .47 ct. Weight: 2.3 gr.

A stunning cut double-overlay white/cranberry/clear cologne bottle, mostly likely by the New England Glass Company. The broad base is slightly footed and decorated with opaque white casing cut in a classic foral vine pattern to a transparent rose-cranberry base. The panel-cut tapered neck is enhanced with a faceted applied ring. The open-top tulip-form stopper has a long knopped neck and white/cranberry panel cutting on the petals. The concave base is polished.

Origin: America, 1850-70. Condition: a 1/16" flake on an upper edge of the stopper visible on careful examination in raking light. Dimensions: 3-3/4" wide; 6-1/2" high.

A delightful and very rare Victorian pin depicting a woman's "safety bicycle". With a chain drive connected to the back wheels and structural supports that left room for petticoats, these bicycles gave women unexpected freedom. Susan B. Anthony claimed that bicycling "had done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world." This pin is worked in silver gilt and set with rose cut Bohemian garnets. The detailing is very nice. The back of the pin retains its original clasp and extended pinstem.

Ca. 1890. Condition: excellent. Dimensions: 1-5/16" x 13/16". Weight: 2.9 gr.

A spectacular demi-parure comprising a pair of earrings and a pendant/brooch worked in 14K yellow gold and set with Persian turquoise. The earrings have round surmounts decorated with applied bead and ropetwist decoration in the Etruscan Revival taste suspending ornately geometrical elements set with square turquoise cabochons. The pendant is made to match and has a bail that remains hidden when worn as a brooch. The turquoise is very well-matched. Tested and guaranteed 14K.

Origin: America, ca. 1865. Condition: excellent, one stone at the bottom of the pendant has darkened to green (typical of Victorian turquoise). Dimensions: earrings, 2-7/8" long from top of earwire; pendant/brooch, 3" x 1-1/4". Weight: 39.6 gr.

A spectacularly fine, museum-quality Victorian figural watch fob worked in 18K yellow gold and platinum depicting Aesop's fable "The Fox and the Grapes." The seal shows the fox's head, jaws agape, straining to reach a juicy cluster of grapes that are just barely out of reach. Every tiny detail of the fox's fur, teeth, tongue is beautifully worked, as are the leaves and distinct individual berries making up each cluster of grapes. The leather strap is enhanced with three additional grape elements.

The seal surface is worked in platinum engraved through to the underlying gold. The crest is that of the Scottish clan Irwin (variously spelled Irvine, Irving, etc.) with the first two words of the family motto, "Sub Sole Sub Umbra Virens."

The Albert swivel clasp is stamped with a French goldsmith's mark, but it's likely that fob is English and the swivel clasp is an addition from the 1920s. The metals are tested and guaranteed as 18K gold and platinum.

Origin: probably England, ca. 1875. Condition: excellent, all original with the likely exception of the swivel clasp. Dimensions: fob length, 1-5/8"; overall length (including Albert clasp), 5-3/4". Weight: 48.9 gr.

An extremely fine Victorian tiger claw bracelet mounted in 20K gold filigree. Tiger claws were popular souvenirs of visits to India, especially after Queen Victoria took the title “Empress of India” in 1876. They were sometimes set into jewelry in England or America, but also in India. This bracelet is mounted in the traditional Indian style of ornate filigree work. The claws are finely matched in terms of color and size and are in excellent condition. Tiger claw bracelets are difficult to find, especially at this quality level. The clasp is stamped with an unidentified maker’s mark. Tested and guaranteed 20K.

Origin: India, ca. 1880. Condition: excellent. Dimensions: 1-1/8” wide; 7-1/4” long. Weight: 29.6 gr.

NOTE: This item cannot be shipped outside the United States or to the state of California.

An imposing Victorian butterfly brooch of exceptional quality and grand dimensions, the fore- and hindwings studded with rose cut diamonds set in silver-topped 18K gold and bordered with oval cabochon rubies set in gold. The thorax is formed of a round opal and the abdomen is a large squarish cabochon pink tourmaline. The design is completed with diamond antennae and emerald eyes. The opal has excellent fire with a good deal of orange and green in the flashes of light. The rubies outlining the wings have medium-light color and are well-matched to the large tourmaline forming the butterfly’s abdomen. The back of the brooch shows masterful à jour work with well-finished piercing to allow light through the stones. The back also retains the original gold pinstem and c-clasp that can be removed with a gold screw assembly. The brooch most likely originally had a comb attachment so the butterfly could be worn in the hair. The brooch is stamped with French gold hallmarks.

Origin: France, ca. 1875. Condition: excellent. Dimensions: 2” x 2-7/8”. Weight: 27.2 gr. Approximate Total Gemstone Weight (by estimation and formula): diamond, 2.39 cts; ruby, 14.26 cts; tourmaline, 6.87 cts; opal, .97 cts.

A lovely pair of classic Victorian earrings in the Etruscal Revival style featuring free-hanging drops of rich violetish-blue drops of lapis lazuli. The 15K yellow gold mountings are enhanced with twisted wire and bead decoration. The lapis is of the finest Afghan quality, with even color and only one tiny fleck of pyrite. The wires are marked "15 Ct".

Origin: England, ca. 1860. Condition: excellent, all original. Dimensions: length from top of wire, 1-3/4".

A chic Victorian egg pendant of black onyx accented with 14K yellow gold Gothic-style strapwork set with natural seed pearls. The pearls, though small, have particularly nice luster. The simple decoration and strong color contrast makes this a very elegant piece to be worn as a single pendant or as a group of necklace charms. Tested and guaranteed 14K.

Origin: America, ca. 1865. Condition: excellent. Dimensions: 5/8" x 15/16".

A 14K yellow gold gypsy ring with a hand-engraved scrolling motif to the shank on either side of a high-domed cabochon emerald. The emerald is graded as dark vivid green (G7/6) with moderate clarity and color enhancement typical of emeralds. The resulting color contrast with the gold setting is especially attractive, as is the classic tapering shape of the shank. Tested and guaranteed 14K.

Origin: America, ca. 1890. Condition: excellent, all original. Finger Size: 7-3/4. Dimensions: 7/16" wide, tapering to 5/32" at the back of the shank. Weight: 6.6 grams. Approximate Total Emerald Weight: 1.03 carat.

A wonderful Victorian 18K yellow gold curb link chain interrupted at regular intervals with bi-color ("watermelon") tourmaline beads. The chain is finished with a fantastic clasp in the form of a lady's hand grasping floral-engraved loop. At 39" in length, the necklace can be worn doubled or perhaps even tripled. Tested and guaranteed 18K.

Ca. 1890. Condition: excellent, all original. Dimensions: 39" long. Weight: 67.0 grams. Approximate Total Gemstone Weight: 215.0 carats.