Catalog: Estate Jewelry (1586)

A pretty 18K yellow gold pendant in a shape that suggests a pair of wings, each set with rose cut diamonds. The design is completed with an additional diamond at the top in a buttercup setting. The pendant was likely fashioned from a larger piece of jewelry that was no longer fashionable. The reverse is stamped with a goldsmith’s mark and also with the Birmingham date mark for 1849. The jump ring is 14K.

• Origin: Birmingham, England, 1849
• Condition: excellent
• Dimensions: 13/16” x 11/16” (excluding bail)
• Approximate Total Diamond Weight: .15 carat
• Weight: 1.9 gram

Pretty Victorian sterling silver pin decorated with a floral appliqué. The floral design has realistic engraved details. These pins were very popular in the late Victorian period and were made in many different variations, often with a name worked into the design. The back is fully hallmarked for Birmingham, 1890-91, and has the maker’s mark “G.A.R.”.

Origin: England, 1890-91. Condition: excellent, all original, nice patina. Size: 1-11/16” x 3/4". Weight: 3.0 grams.

A nice extra-wide Victorian silver cuff bracelet engraved in an ornate Persian-inspired design. The bracelet is hinged, and the back side is unengraved. The width of the bracelet lends a very imposing look. Tested and guaranteed sterling silver.

• Origin: America, ca. 1875
• Condition: excellent, only two pinpoint dings on the back side
• Dimensions: 6-1/4” circumference, 1-7/16” wide
• Weight: 31.9 grams

A fine Victorian shell cameo pendant/pin depicting Diana, goddess of the hunt, the moon and nature (Artemis in Green mythology). The setting is beautifully worked in the Etruscan taste with delicately formed bead, wire and rosette decoration. The carving makes nice use of the shell's coloring to add details to the goddess' gown. She holds three of her attributes—a bow, a quiver of arrows and a crescent moon tiara. Diana/Artemis, being a virgin goddess, was regarded as the protector of women, especially during childbirth. The cameo is indistinctly signed by the artist. The back retains the original pinstem and pendant hook. The clasp is a slightly later replacement in 10K. The pinstem is stamped for 12K gold and the setting is tested and guaranteed 12K.

• England, circa 1865
• Excellent condition; clasp replaced; no cracks to shell
• 2-5/32" x 1-3/4"
• 14.25 grams

A fine Victorian 14K gold and platinum locket ornately decorated in the Etruscan style with a lily pond scene. The scene includes rose gold cattails, green gold lily pads, and platinum lily blossoms. The remainder of the locket is enanced with ropetwists, wire work, and appliques. The locket opens at the back to reveal a photo compartment. The locket is completed iwth its original matching bail.

• Origin: America, ca. 1860
• Condition: excellent; a few minor pinpoints on the back cover
• Dimensions: 1-3/8" x 2-3/16" (including bail)
• Weight: 14.6 grams

A Victorian shell cameo depicting Aurora/Eos, goddess of the dawn set in a 14K gold frame decorated in the Etruscan taste withe beads and rosettes. The goddess is shown with her chief attribute, a pair of feathered wings in her hair (not to be confused with Psyche who has butterfly wings). The back retains the original pinstem and folding bail, but the clasp is an old replacement. Tested and guaranteed 14K.

• America, ca. 1870
• Excellent condition; no cracks to shell; replaced clasp
• 1-11/16" x 1-5/16"
• 7.4 grams

A very pretty pair of Victorian earrings fashioned as lapis lazuli orbs suspended from 14K gold caps decorated with Etruscan beading and rope-twist motifs. The lapis has a beautiful deep violet-blue color of near-Afghan quality with just a small amount of white calcite. The ear wires appear to be original. Tested and guaranteed 14K.

• Origin: America, ca. 1860
• Condition: excellent
• Dimensions: spheres, 1/2" diameter; 1-1/4” long from top of earwires
• Weight: 9.8 grams

An impressively sized 14K gold locket ornately decorated in the Etruscan style with rosettes, shaped appliques, and rope twists. The center features a bouquet worked with rose gold foliage and platinum blossoms and buds. Exposed areas of gold have a soft bloomed finish. The back features an oval hinged locket opening. The locket retains the original matching bail. Tested and guaranteed 14K gold.

• Origin: America, ca 1860
• Condition: excellent, a few very minor dings on the back locket cover
• Dimensions: 1-3/8” x 2-5/8 long (including bail)
• Weight: 18.0 grams

A beautifully-carved hardstone cameo depicting Libertas, the Roman goddess of liberty. She can be identified from the shape of the diadem she wears in her hair. The image is quite similar to American "Morgan" silver dollars from the late 19th century. The color contrast of the stone is quite remarkable. The carnelian cameo is set into an intricate gold setting in the Etruscan Revival taste. The back has both a brooch fitting and a hidden bail for wear as a pendant. The back is stamped "14K" and also has the maker's mark for Perley Bros.

NOTE: The piece is shown with a 16" 14K gold chain that is available for an additional $125.

• Origin: America, ca. 1900.
• Condition: excellent; no cameo damage.
• Dimensions: 1-11/16" x 1-3/16".
• Weight: 6.8 grams. Fabulous late Victorian hardstone cameo brooch. The carnelian cameo represents "Liberty" and is very similar to the Liberty head that appeared on "Morgan" silver dollars and quarters of the period. The 14K mounting is floridly decorated with millegraining, applied beads and rosettes, and rope twist borders. The reverse retains its original pinstem and modified c-clasp. The reverse is marked 14K and is signed for the maker, Perley Bros. of New York. Origin: America, 1870s. Condition: excellent. Size: 1-11/16" x 1-1/4".

A Victorian 14K yellow gold and coral pendant necklace in the Etruscan Revival taste. The central plaque is enhanced with a pair of natural color coral beads and suspends torpedo drops and a chain swag. The plaque was originally a brooch, but it has been given new life as an elegant necklace! Tested and guaranteed 14K.

• Origin: America, circa 1860,
• Condition: Excellent.
• Dimensions: overall length, 17"; pendant, 1" x 1.5".
• Weight: 5.2 grams.

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 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 phenomenal Victorian 18K yellow gold brooch in the Etruscan Revival taste. The brooch features a large azurite-malachite cabochon weighing more than 60 carats. The natural fissures, and blue and green color mottling is striking, especially against the richness of the gold. The setting is one of the best Etruscan frames we’ve seen, befitting a minerological specimen that would have been considered extravagantly exotic (probably originating in Afghanistan). The stone is set in a collet surrounded with a border of beaded rosettes flanked on either side with delicate twisted wire. The frame is decorated at compass points with shell motifs outlined with twisted wirework. Cyma scrolls and graduated beading fill the space between the shells. The surface of the gold has the slightly matte bloomed finish that lends the appearance of antiquity to the better Etruscan pieces. The back of the brooch retains the original c-clasp and extended pinstem. Tested and guaranteed 18K gold.

Origin: America or England, ca. 1860. Condition: excellent, the border has two of the tiny rosettes and a tiny portion of one cyma scroll missing, but these are noticeable only upon very close inspection. Size: 2” x 1-11/16”. Weight: 19.75 grams.

A fine 18K yellow gold Victorian bracelet in the Etruscan Revival taste. The bracelet comprises ten 7-mm gold beads ornately decorated in twisted wire- and bead-work. Two 8.5-mm beads flank the clasp. The beads are joined by trace link chains, the larger beads being separated at a greater distance from the others. The placement of the hallmarks on the chain segments indicates this is the original design of the bracelet and that it has not been altered. French 18K hallmarks.

Origin: France, ca. 1860. Condition: excellent. Size: 7-1/2". Weight: 6.5 grams.

An exceptionally fine Victorian 18K yellow gold and turquoise locket in the Etruscan Revival taste. The outside of the sphere is encrusted with ornate wirework decoration against a stippled background. Small Persian turquoise cabochons, some set in star-shaped mountings, add a touch of color. The clasp is cleverly hidden to be nearly invisible when the ball is closed. Indistinctly marked; tested and guaranteed 18K.

Origin: England or America, ca. 1880. Condition: excellent, all original. Dimensions: 7/8" diameter (excluding bail). Weight: 11.2 grams.

A fine Victorian 18K yellow gold locket of modified kite shape in the Etruscan Revival style. The gold surfaces have a matte finish and are enhanced with a variety of ropetwist and beaded decorations in a sort of laced corset design. The back of the locket conceals a glass-covered compartment for a photo or hair. The locket door has a period “VBR” monogram.

Origin: America, ca. 1870. Condition: excellent, no dings. Dimensions: 1-1/4” x 2-1/16” long (including jump ring). Weight: 12.9 gr.

Exquisite pair of Second Empire (Napoleon III) French 18K yellow gold earrings in the girandole style. The surmounts, each set with a single slightly flattened coral bead, suspend gold central elements, which suspend a fringe of coral, pearl and onyx beads. The earrings are marked with French 18K hallmarks.

Origin: Paris, circa 1850. Condition: excellent, all original. Size: 2-7/32" long. Weight: 6.0 grams.

Elegant Napoleon III circle brooch enclosing a delicate sprig of flowers set with 19 small rose-cut diamonds. The floral motif is worked in silver as was the practice in 19th century diamond jewelry. The white color of the metal was thought to show diamonds to their better advantage. The edges of the circle are beautifully pierced with a double gallery. The back retains the original extended pinstem and c-clasp, and back is marked with 19th century French hallmarks for 18K gold.

Origin: France, circa 1860. Condition: excellent, all original. Size: 1” diameter. Weight: 4.75 grams.