Every year, I reflect upon some of my favourite pieces purchased during the year and I have chosen a few to talk about. The first one is the necklace at the top of the post, a beautiful piece with tiny natural seed pearls interspersed with eleven graduated and faceted amethysts. The amethysts are a lovely purple. It has a gold barrel clasp and dates from around the 1900s. You see similar ones now and then, usually with amethysts or citrines. They are normally very short, designed to sit just at the base of the throat, between 36cms to 38cms in length.
The next pieces I want to talk about are rings. I purchased a Victorian 5 stone pearl ring and tried stacking it with other rings I still had. The combination below is probably the best one I came up with. The top ring is Georgian, the middle one is from 1970 and the bottom one is Victorian
The Georgian pendant/brooch below is a little battered but I love the symbolism. These little mourning pieces were painted in sepia, some with macerated hair-work. This one shows a woman leaning on an anchor, a symbol of hope that a sailor would return home safely after a long voyage, with a sailing ship in the background. There is no inscription.
The final items are antique gold earrings with Wedgwood plaques depicting classical scenes, made in the early to mid 19th century. These lovely blue and white porcelain plaques are not an expensive gemstone but still look very striking in jewellery set in an 18ct frame with dangles. They are light to wear and are quite summery in colour.
navette jewellery 