All is Not What It Seems

In a past post, I wrote about how the 1854 gold standard was lowered. As a result of this change in the amount of gold required for jewelry to be officially 'gold', gold items became easier to make. Before that govenment issue however, jewelers creatively developed a way to make gold jewelry appear to have more gold than it did:

The following is from this site:http://antiquesshop.org/victorianjewlery.htm

The Romantic period (1837-1860) in Victorian jewelry was sparked by the wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1840. Since the supply of gold was inadequate at that time, thin sheets of gold were worked upon to impart the illusion of mass and size to the jewels of the early Romantic period.

It seems more research must be gathered in order to make a full understanding of what happened then. Time will tell!

A Little Something Rose Cut Diamonds

Victoria’s crown was made not long after large diamond deposits were found in South Africa in 1867. That was when the lower price and availability brought them to the market place. Electric lighting also increased interest in the use of diamonds in jewelry in the 1880’s. They can be referred to as sparkle diamonds.
One of the types of cuts used was the rose cut. The rose cut came in two versions. These were the single and double which were flat on the bottom. A single rose cut has, as you would think, a single layer of horizontal facets. While a double rose has two horizontal layers of facets.

Of course there is the exception. The Dutch rose cuts are deep or high and can have three rows of horizontal facets. While the facet can range from one that is more raw to prepared. You will also see that they are not perfectly round but that adds to their individuality.

Today, the rose cut is still used for melee diamonds (the little gems that accent a big one). Besides being used for accents, there is an increasing desire for rose cuts in order to create reproductions of these antique works of art. Also, for repairing genuinely antique works.