Victorian diamond ribbon bow brooch set with eighty one old cut diamonds totalling approximately 4.00 ct, the stones set in silver over a 9KT gold back, circa 1880.
The ribbon bow was the Victorian jeweller's favourite way of turning a line of diamonds into something that appears to move. The loops here are left open so the metal reads as ribbon rather than as a solid plaque, and the two tails fall away from the knot at different angles and finish in notched ends, exactly as a real ribbon does when it is tied and dropped.
Eighty one old cut diamonds run the length of the bow, graduated so the largest sit at the knot and the smallest run out to the tips, with a single larger stone at the centre of the tie. Old cuts were cut by eye and by hand before the modern brilliant was standardised, with a small table, a high crown and an open culet, and they return a warmer and slower fire than a modern stone under candlelight or a low lamp, which is the light they were cut for.
The stones are set in cut down silver collets over a 9KT gold back. Silver was used at the front because it is white and throws no colour into the diamond, and gold behind it because silver alone is too soft to carry a pin and would mark a dress. The reverse is open backed beneath the principal stones so light passes up through them, and carries the pin and catch.
Dimensions -
Length: 6 cm
Height: 3 cm
Weight: 14 g
Specifications -
Metal: Silver upon 9KT gold
Period: Victorian, circa 1880
Fitting: Pin and catch
Construction: Cut down collets, open backed
Diamonds -
Cut: Old cut
Clarity: VS to SI
Colour: G to J, mixed
Number: 81
Total carat weight: 4.00 ct approximately
Setting: Cut down silver collets over gold
Condition :
Very good antique condition.
Victorian diamond ribbon bow brooch set with eighty one old cut diamonds totalling approximately 4.00 ct, the stones set in silver over a 9KT gold back, circa 1880.
The ribbon bow was the Victorian jeweller's favourite way of turning a line of diamonds into something that appears to move. The loops here are left open so the metal reads as ribbon rather than as a solid plaque, and the two tails fall away from the knot at different angles and finish in notched ends, exactly as a real ribbon does when it is tied and dropped.
Eighty one old cut diamonds run the length of the bow, graduated so the largest sit at the knot and the smallest run out to the tips, with a single larger stone at the centre of the tie. Old cuts were cut by eye and by hand before the modern brilliant was standardised, with a small table, a high crown and an open culet, and they return a warmer and slower fire than a modern stone under candlelight or a low lamp, which is the light they were cut for.
The stones are set in cut down silver collets over a 9KT gold back. Silver was used at the front because it is white and throws no colour into the diamond, and gold behind it because silver alone is too soft to carry a pin and would mark a dress. The reverse is open backed beneath the principal stones so light passes up through them, and carries the pin and catch.
Dimensions -
Length: 6 cm
Height: 3 cm
Weight: 14 g
Specifications -
Metal: Silver upon 9KT gold
Period: Victorian, circa 1880
Fitting: Pin and catch
Construction: Cut down collets, open backed
Diamonds -
Cut: Old cut
Clarity: VS to SI
Colour: G to J, mixed
Number: 81
Total carat weight: 4.00 ct approximately
Setting: Cut down silver collets over gold
Condition :
Very good antique condition.
