Early Victorian Jewelry

The synthetic rubies and sapphires, so prevalant in the 1920’s have a long history of creation. In 1880, ruby and sapphire was discovered but in 1801, Robert Hare invented the oxyhydrogen gas blowpipe and the thought of producing synthetic ruby and sapphire was in the beginning phase of thought. In 1817, Guy-Lassac realized that heating ammonium alum would produce aluminum oxide and the actual process of synthesizing corundum started. In...

The Riker Brothers Firm, an American firm, was known for their work in plique-a-jour which included Art Nouveau styles, birds pendants and brooches. In the early years, they manufactured Masonic jewelry pieces, watch fobs and charms. In 1870, they included onyx and cameos to their Riker Brother jewelry collection and then platinum and gold. In 1916, they exhibited and included in their collection of jewelry, platinum with diamonds, pearls and gemstones....

The History of birthstones is believed to have gone back to the book of Exodus with the Breastplate of Aaron. It was a garment with twelve gemstones sewn into it that represented the twelve tribes of Israel. The gemstones were set in three rows of three gemstones. At that time the gemstones were “sardius, topaz and carbuncle; emerald, sapphire and diamond; ligure, agate and amethyst; beryl, onyx and jasper. The...

Cecil Rhodes was the founder of DeBeers and he started simply by renting water pumps during the rush of 1871. Then an 83.5 carat diamond was discovered in the Kimberly Mine in South Africa. He used the proceeds to buy small mining operations and started his own. To fund his new mining operations, he was able to get capital from the Rothschild family. DeBeers was founded in 1888 and, at...