Antique Victorian Diamond Flowers Enamel Drop Earrings

These are the loveliest, most darling early Victorian diamond and enamel mourning earrings, dating back to 1850-1870..

The earrings are of English origin and beautifully hand crafted in 9 karat yellow and rose gold, not hallmarked but tested. The earrings were made in solid rose gold, then plated with rich, yellow gold, a commonly used jewellery crafting technique of the day. The fronts of the earrings retain the yellow gold plating, while the wires (which are newer replacement for the original ear fittings) and the backs are more rosy in tone, due to rubbing over the time since they were made. The gorgeous, black enamelled fronts feature Forget-Me-Not flowers, set with twinkly rose cut diamonds. Forget-Me-Nots symbolised just what their name says ... remember me. As the earrings feature black enamel, the colour of mourning, we think they may be mourning rather than a keepsake jewels. Traditionally, black enamel was used to remember married people, as opposed to white enamel for children, and unmarried members of the family. The diamond flowers set into the enamel are beautifully shaped, they are opulent and well preserved. The enamel is original and in fairly good condition, with some minor, shallow scratches, usual for the age of the ring. The top glaze of the enamel has also partly rubbed away, but the main part of it, the one that contains colour is all there. These imperfections are only detectable under a strong magnification and are more visible in our photos, in a flash of the camera. In natural lighting the enamel just looks matt rather than shiny. The earrings are otherwise in great antique condition.

The enamelled ovals of the earrings measure 14.1 x 11 mm and 13.6 x 10.7 mm, a tiny difference not detectable when worn and typical for those days, when jewellery was hand crafted entirely. The length of the earrings with the wires, measured as seen from the front is 23.9 mm, they weigh 3.4 grams together. They are sold with small and light, soft plastic butterflies which stop the earrings from slipping off your ear lobes and getting lost (a truly genius, modern invention !)

We love ..... these gorgeous memorial earrings ..... charming and sentimental, they tug at our hearts with their delicate beauty and love that never forgets.

* Please kindly note that other jewellery in our photos is for your inspiration and not included in this listing *

B-1494

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