Antique Victorian Amethyst and Seed Pearl Enamelled Pendant Earrings, 18ct Yellow Gold

Antique jewellery object group: earrings long hanging

Condition: excellent condition

Country of origin: Although it does not carry any legible control marks we believe this to be of Belgian origin.

Style: Victorian – Victorian decorative arts refers to the style of decorative arts during the Victorian era. The Victorian era is known for its eclectic revival and interpretation of historic styles and the introduction of cross-cultural influences from the middle east and Asia in furniture, fittings, and Interior decoration. Victorian design is widely viewed as having indulged in a regrettable excess of ornament. The Arts and Crafts movement, the aesthetic movement, Anglo-Japanese style, and Art Nouveau style have their beginnings in the late Victorian era.

Period: ca. 1870

Source of inspiration: Mother Nature

Material: 18ct yellow gold

Technique (01): Enamelling is an old and widely-adopted technology. The ancient Egyptians applied enamels to pottery and stone objects. The ancient Greeks, Celts, Russians, and Chinese also used enamelling processes on metal objects. Enamel is the colourful result of fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between 750 and 850 degrees Celsius. The powder melts and flows and hardens to a smooth, durable vitreous coating on metal, glass or ceramic. According to some sources, the word enamel comes from the High German word smelzan (to smelt) via the Old French esmail. Used as a noun, “an enamel” is a usually small decorative object, coated with enamel coatings, such as a champlevé or a cloisonné (different techniques).

Technique (02): Intaglio – An intaglio or engraved gem is a small gemstone, usually semi-precious, that has been carved, in the Western tradition normally with images or inscriptions only on one face. The engraving of gemstones was a major luxury art form in the ancient world, and an important one in some later periods. Strictly speaking, engraving means carving in intaglio, with the design cut into the flat background of the stone, but relief carvings, with the design projecting out of the background as in nearly all cameos, are also covered by the term. The activity is also called gem carving, and the artists gem-cutters. References to antique gems, and intaglios in a jewellery context, will almost always mean carved gems. (from: Wikipedia)

Precious stones: Four amethyst
18 half seed pearls

Birthstones: Pearl is the birthstone (or month stone) for June and amethyst for February.

Hallmarks: No trace.

Dimensions: height 4,04 cm (1,59 inch)

Weight: 6,80 gram (4,37 dwt)