Antique ‘En Tremblent’ Gold Brooch

At Richard Ogden Gold Bird Brooch ‘En Tremblent’ with turquoise stones and rubies

Oh I just had to share this brooch with you fine folks, as it is just such a sweet and beautifully made piece of jewellery, circa 1880, so a late Victorian piece.  The style is referred to as En Tremblent, which obviously is French and means to tremble.  The name comes from the gemstones and sections of the piece being set so that they have some beautiful movement to them.  As an example, in this brooch the bird is set on a gold spring, which makes it tremble when it is moved around.  The ruby in its beak is only fastened with a small bit of gold, so it gives an extra dimension of movement to the piece.  It is so well made, which was also pointed out by one of the most skilled antique style jewellery craftsmen that I know here in London – he if anyone would know what quality when it comes to antique pieces!

The back of the brooch, which is just about as beautiful as the front!

They started creating en tremblent jewellery in the late 18th century, as the movement of the gemstones so cleverly caught the light and attracted the eye.  They would mainly create floral sprays with the main flower en tremblent, to make it look like it was swaying in the wind.  We already know that these old cut diamonds were especially stunning in candle light, as the light would be reflected across the room in the most soft and romantic manner.

Richard Ogden Gold Bird Brooch En Tremblent with turquoise and rubies

So how would you style it, since brooches are making such a wonderful comeback?

The Victorian Carved Half Hoop Ring

An extraordinary original Victorian half hoop ring with sapphires and diamonds, this one is from Richard Ogden

Good morning dearest, I hope you had a lovely weekend in the sunshine!  Gosh this spring is really taking its time, and it has more than once made me think of a poem by the Swedish author Karin Boye:

Ja visst gör det ont när knoppar brister.
Varför skulle annars våren tveka?
Varför skulle all vår heta längtan
bindas i det frusna bitterbleka?
Höljet var ju knoppen hela vintern.
Vad är det för nytt, som tär och spränger?
Ja visst gör det ont när knoppar brister,
ont för det som växer
och det som stänger.

– Karin Boye

 Yes, of course it hurts when buds are breaking.
Why else would the springtime falter?
Why would all our ardent longing
bind itself in frozen, bitter pallor?
After all, the bud was covered all the winter.
What new thing is it that bursts and wears?
Yes, of course it hurts when buds are breaking,
hurts for that which grows
and that which bars.

 

And now it is time to move over to jewellery!  I have been showing my clients quite a few carved Victorian half hoop rings lately and thought that we should take a closer look today:

Victorian three stone half hoop ring in yellow gold at Richard Ogden

A side-view of the ring, with the carvings clearly visible   

A collection of three stone half hoop rings at Richard Ogden – you can see how the designs vary, in everything from the cut or shape of the diamonds, to the width and design of the mounts 

Victorian craftsmen started designing carved half hoop rings in the 1880s and they would either be worn as engagement rings or presented as gifts at the birth of a baby.  The rings came with three, five or seven stones, and featured either all diamonds, or all rubies/sapphires/emeralds, or alternating diamonds and these coloured precious stones.  Women would build up a nice collection of the rings, often with one in each colour: red, blue, green and white.

A beautiful sapphire and diamond ring, with little rose diamond points in between the larger gemstones

And a side view of the Victorian sapphire and diamond half hoop ring 

Mr Alastair Norman from Harvey & Gore mentioned that today Victorian half hoop rings would make excellent engagement rings, as they sit perfectly next to a wedding ring.  He also emphasised what wonderful quality coloured stones you can find in the early Victorian half hoop rings, the exquisite blue sapphire above here being the perfect example.

The rings would also feature little rose diamond points (in other words tiny diamonds in a rose cut) in between the bigger stones – you can see them in the photo above: tiny little fractions of a diamond at the foot of the sapphire and the diamond.

A Victorian-style half hoop ring with seven diamonds

The ring above belongs to one of my colleagues, Mrs C, who was kind enough to share it and its history with us today.  It is a seven diamond Victorian-style carved half hoop ring (that is a mouthful!) that was given to her grandmother as an engagement ring circa 1918.  It is quite rare to see a seven stone ring, and when her grandmother received it she was told by her fiancée that it represented Seven Days of Joy – how wonderful indeed!

Mrs C’s grandfather was a Master Baker on one of the merchant ships during the First World War.  After the war he became a baker and quite a successful one, because at one point he was running three bakeries!  Mrs C told me that the family lived in the bakery, and at one point the engagement ring went missing “as one of the members of staff had pinched it!”  They managed to get it back though, and it was eventually passed down through generations, always to the youngest daughter in the family, which is why it now belongs to her.

And just for our curiosity: the single diamond ring that Mrs C is wearing in the photo above was her mother’s engagement ring, who got married in 1960.  According to her mother and father the ring was brand new at that point, but we are both convinced that it is an older ring, because it features a beautiful old cut diamond in a 1920/30s setting.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this Victorian design; could you imagine wearing one of these as an engagement ring?  What attracts you to it, and what doesn’t?

Antique Jewellery Heaven at Richard Ogden and Moira Jewels

With Christmas season upon us I have been having far too much fun playing around with the jewellery in the shop, so I thought I would give you a little sneak peek into what I got up to last week:

21ct diamond necklace from Tiffany & Co at Moira Jewels

Eeeeeh just a little something I threw on!  This is the most stunning diamond necklace from Tiffany’s, which belongs to Moira Jewels at Richard Ogden.  Fit for any old Christmas party I say!  Next time you walk through the Burlington Arcade, do make sure to peek into our windows at Richard Ogden – the centre one is extra prominent at the moment with a glorious selection of Moira’s jewellery!

Close up on the Tiffany diamond necklace…

… and then I may have found my way to our pink window…

Pink sapphire and diamond rings from Richard Ogden

Oopsy!  I couldn’t help myself.  On the far left you can see a five stone Garnet gold ring.  Five graduated oval almandine garnets are set with rose cut diamond points and it is all mounted in a Victorian style carved claw setting in yellow gold.

Next to it you can see a HUGE purple Tourmaline and diamond cluster ring, where the tourmaline is cabochon cut and surrounded by a single row of brilliant cut diamonds.  

One my ring finger I am wearing a Tourmaline (7.03 carats!) and diamond cluster ring.  Such a sweet design which I know will woo a few of you.  I just love cluster rings by the way, and I believe that Diana – and now Kate Middleton’s sapphire and diamond cluster ring has eternalised the design.  I get so many people coming in to look at cluster rings, and mainly the sapphire and diamond ones – understandably!  

Continuing on to the far right, you can see my very favourite ring in the whole shop: the Star Ruby whose acquaintance we made in the blog post: A Star Ruby Romance.  It is just such an extraordinary design and I can’t wait to see who ends up buying it!

Sooo that was an enjoyable way of finishing off my Friday afternoon and I can’t wait to go back in again tomorrow to see what new (old) pieces I will have to try on!