Antique Brooch With Ruby, Sapphire, Pearl & Diamonds, circa 1900

What great luck it is to see precious coloured stones and diamonds united in a piece of jewellery. How incredible were the coincidences that had to come together over millions of years to create these stones in the first place. What a coincidence it must have been that the stones came to the surface of the earth - and what luck that someone found them, cut them, brought them together and united them in a piece of jewelry! This brooch combines sparkling diamonds, a sapphire, a ruby from Burma and a pearl, all naturally grown, in one piece of jewelry. It is designed as a stick on which a plant has been placed - a three-leafed flower or a shamrock. The latter in particular has always been a lucky charm in itself. For example, the clover is the model for the playing card suit "cross", French "trèfle" = clover, in English one says "to live in clover" to express that one leads a carefree life full of happiness and wealth. And medieval love poetry also made the "green clover" a place of love encounters. Brooches like this one, in the shape of a clover with precious trimmings, were very fashionable in the years around 1900. Attached is an excerpt from the sales catalogue of the London Goldsmiths & Silversmiths Co. Ltd, 112 Regent Street, London from 1901, which shows a similar shamrock brooch at the bottom right. However, the setting of these pieces varies greatly. We find examples in the literature with diamonds, with opals, with coloured stones - everything that brought luck together is happily united here. Illustration after Peter Hinks (ed.): Viktorianischer Schmuck, Hildesheim/Zurich/New York 1996, p. 49.

Estimate:$3,346.41

View all items fromHofer AntikschmuckorJewelry & Gems