ABOUT:
A gorgeous pop of color with a wonderful moody antique sparkle! These teardrop dormeuse latch back earrings have a foiled pear cut amethyst in a closed back setting, surrounded by a halo of little rose cut diamonds.
These antiques are early Victorian to possibly late Georgian era with the closed and foil backed fabrication. I haven't had a lot of foiled amethysts in my years and these have such a gorgeous deeper purple color with the glitter of the rose cuts accenting them. I also love the teardrop shape with the amethysts cut to mirror the overall shape of the earrings.
Found in France. No hallmarks remain but the earrings test at 18k, for the back and posts and hinges, with the stone settings topped in silver as was customary for the period to set diamonds in a white metal. The gold has a warm rosy patina.
Antique box not included. Please note the measurements as I have small hands and it can be difficult to decipher scale from photos, especially with the zoomed images that I am required to present for detail.
SIZE & MEASUREMENTS:
They measure about 15mm top to bottom, the pear cluster setting is 9mm wide.
The diamonds are small at about 1 to 1.5mm with the amethyst about 6x5mm.
Combined weight for the pair is 2.5 grams.
IMPORTANT CONDITION NOTES:
The foil is in nice shape giving a wonderful reflectivity to the back to make the purple glow from within. Some surface wear to the amethyst and a nibble or nick but lovely coloring. When you look through the stones you can see some authentic age to the foil but it does not make the stones muddy or lifeless at all.
Typical old rose cut diamonds with some inclusions, nicks, frosty and irregular edges, likely have always been that way as they were rough cut by hand. They are small so this is not really visible to the eye, they just add a nice little glint of sparkle. One is warm in color. Some build up around the stones but with the closed back setting these shouldn't get wet or be soaked.
The hinges are a bit loose But once you guide the levers into place on the ear posts, they do "click" and latch. It does take intention though to guide them in as the lever backs can sometimes miss the ear wires since they are a bit loose. Most of this is age appropriate condition considering the at least 150 year old hinges. Earrings are by nature typically pretty gently worn (compared to rings) but on pieces of this age with multiple smaller stones and very old gold hinges, we do not recommend 24/7 wear. The silver tops also show so wear and gaps but trying to reinforce each setting could risk muddying them.
Quite a bit of dark patina to the gold backs from age. We often see more patina on gold pieces that have silver included in the fabrication, like these earrings with the silver tops. I gave them a light polish to clean them up but most of my buyers prefer original patina and with the small stones I didn't want to rub them too aggressively. There are a few dark spots of tarnish remaining to the closed backs especially.
Please note that all my pieces are pre-owned and in estate condition. They will have patina, surface wear, a few small nicks. These pieces may also have evidence of a sizing, some build up around the stones and / or inclusions seen under magnification, typical for antique pieces. I have mentioned any noticeable issues above and they are all still wearable and eager to be loved and accepted for many years to come, (the preservation of antique jewelry, even those with signs of their age and history, is important to me. : )
But - Please note due to age, this piece is not in mint condition. Pictures also serve as part of the description and condition report so please utilize the zoom feature which will magnify any wear significantly more than what is visible to the eye while wearing : )
SOCIAL:
Please feel free watch @mouseshouseantiques on Instagram for inventory drops, sneak peaks and previews! And check out my website www.MousesHouseAntiques.com as I can add more pics there so you can get extra looks : )
All items hand picked by me, one at a time from all over the world. All listings individually written by me, and not AI, after studying each piece to discuss its beauties and its ; ) eccentricities (which I am picky to point out).
Thanks for visiting my shop!
Box#@.!042
