Our poesy ring (spelled posy, posie, or posey) has the deep color of a 22carat ring along with a textured pattern and an interesting inscription "Seale up Secrets" that is both biblical and romantic in substance. The term "seale up secrets" with its Gothic spelling of seale, refers to the biblical phrase "seal up". In the Bible, the phrase "seal up" is often used to refer to something being kept secure until a specific time...

A stunning Georgian floral pendant worked in silver-topped 18K gold. The radiating petals are studded with diamonds in the newly fashionable “a jour” or open settings that came into vogue around 1800. The selection of diamonds is a virtual history of early diamond cutting and includes rose cuts, Mazarin cuts, table cuts, and Peruzzi cuts. The flower is centered with an unheated cornflower blue sapphire, likely of Ceylon origin...

C1770 Silver gilt ring with Glass Tassie cameo portrait of an 18th century gentleman, thought to be young Prince William Henry Duke of Gloucester, younger brother of King George III. Rings set with portrait miniatures of sovereign figures were quite popular and widely distributed. A "Tassie" is a paste or glass copy of a cameo or intaglio...

Possibly the finest Georgian fob seal we’ve seen, this example is worked in multicolored 18K gold. The large swivel features a carnelian plaque on one side that reverses to an amazing crystal-enclosed compartment. Inside the compartment is a three-dimensional fruit basket worked in yellow, white, rose, green and blue gold. The rock crystal cover is slightly domed to magnify the fruit basket decoration...

A Georgian 14k glass emerald and diamonds ring circa 1780-1800. This antique yellow gold (unmarked but tested and guaranteed) ring features a 3/8" across top which has claw set early silver coloured genuine rose cut diamonds surrounding an emerald coloured glass stone. Emeralds then were a scarce and difficult stone to acquire, so the use of a cut glass "gem" with diamonds was not unusual...

Our C1790 ring is an 18th century glass intaglio of an ancient signed gem depicting the head of a laughing satyr, or faun (a young satyr). Such carvings were called Tassies (explained further down). "Gems" in this case refers not to precious stones, but to ancient classical Greek carvings, highly valued miniature works of art. Our glass intaglio is signed in Greek for Ammonioy, meaning "by Ammonios"...

Exquisitely designed pair of 14k yellow and white gold, blue enamel and diamond flower-form drop earrings, French, circa late 18th century. Each earring composed of twenty rose cut and single cut diamonds. The flowerhead drop and stem are articulated together with jump rings. Attached to the back of each earring is a pierced post and locking clip back. Measurement: 1 1/2" long. Weight: 9 grams. Combined approximate diamond weight of the earrings is 0.50 cts. Condition is excellent...

A charming miniature portrait, done in watercolor on natural wafer, and mounted in a later 14K gold ring with an impressed maker's mark of "MP". The sitter is a young red-haired child, facing left, and wearing a black dress with a dotted lace ruffled collar.

The ring size is 6 1/2, and the portrait measures 1 1/16" by 7/8". The condition of the portrait, as well as the ring, is excellent...

Queen Anne period (1740) large beautifully faceted octagon cut amethyst solitaire ring in a later 18K gold band. This style of jewelry has been historically misnamed for Queen Anne, who reigned from 1695 to 1714, as so called Queen Anne jewelry dates to the mid 18th century. Among other details, we love this ring for its eighteenth century octagonal shape, the quality of the amethyst and the crimped collet gold setting...

A 1" diameter watch fob or pendant consisting of a dated 1791 English "Spade" Guinea in .917 gold (22 karat). This King George III coin has been soldered to a gold wire suspension, and it weighs 8.74 grams. It was worn for years as a gold charm and it has the expected wear with some loss of detail and edge reeding. This item is in as described condition with no dents, bends, corrosion, losses, damage or repairs other than the mounting for hanging and the wear...

This Georgian diamond solitaire ring is set in 15K gold and has lovely engraved shoulders (also referred to as chased). The old mine cut diamond, chased shoulders and smooth polished gold back (beautiful in its own right) make this ring classically Georgian. There is not a prong visible on this diamond as a Georgian era goldsmith only wanted the diamond to be visible. Diamonds then were set in silver to better set off the cool tones, as is this one. The proportions of this band make it idea...

An early Empire 15k superbly carved cameo pin circa 1820. This hand carved shell portrait cameo measures 2 x 1-3/4" and it features lovely tooling with a pierced gallery, and a twist border with applied textured flowers and leaves. The cameo itself is one of the most attractively carved we have seen- simply stunning in detail and she is wearing an Empire headdress. This brooch has the original c-clasp and a loop for wear as a pendant. It weighs 10.9 grams, and it is in excellent condition wi...

A hand engraved Georgian 9k yellow gold and RGP engraved watch key. This 1-7/8 x 3/4" winding key features a rolled gold plate rotating swivel loop and a rotating knob on the RGP winding shaft. Both have underlying metal for rigidity and resistance to wear (gold is very soft), but the body of the key tests as 9 carat gold (the key is unmarked). It weighs 9.0 grams, and it is in excellent condition with no monograms, dents, bends, corrosion, losses, damage or repairs. All items are thoroughly...

A pretty late Georgian example of a Halley’s Comet pin worked in 14K (perhaps 15K) yellow gold and featuring a light blue paste stone to represent the comet’s nucleus. The paste is set in an elegant buttercup-type setting accented with an engraved gallery. Blue paste is less common than other colors, and makes a very nice presentation. The comet’s tail depicted in the engraved and voluted gold setting.

In 1705, Edmond Halley correctly predicted the comet’s return in 1758. When it ...

A most interesting mourning ring style of the period; the two sided mourning ring with a swivel bezel. One side has a lock of hair under crystal and is bordered with pearls, representing tears, in a pinched gold setting. The other side is a black enamel rectangle inscribed with Mark Hodgson ESQ died 12 July 1810 aged 52 in gold letters. Our ring is in near perfect condition and appears as if it could have been made yesterday, impossible of course, as the Georgian goldsmith's skills cannot be...

A very good Georgian watch fob seal worked in 15K yellow gold with ornate floral repousse floral decoration. The section connecting the fob frame to the bail is chased in a foliate pattern that matches the floral theme. One side of the flip part is set with a banded agate while the other side features an exquisitely chased and engraved gold plaque depicting a flower basket beneath a clear rock crystal cover. The gold plaque is likely very close to pure gold which would have made it easier to wor...

A renaissance era poesy ring (spelled posy, posie, or posey), the outer ring of our posy has a chequerboard pattern with the darkly romantic inscription "Yours till death". The u in the letter Yours is written as a V because it is based off the Latin alphabet which used the letter V to represent both letters. Posey rings were popular in France and England between the 1400's and 1700's and were often given as gifts between lovers. Religious messages and messages of love and fidelity were engr...

Renaissance 22 Carat signet ring with a deeply carved intaglio puzzle in the form of a pictogram which uses pictures and letters to spell out words that convey its meaning. The rebus reads "Love You" with the heart symbolizing love and the V (based off the old Latin alphabet) for the letter U, representing the vowel U which represents "You". The ring is unmarked and a size 6 and in excellent condition.