An absolutely dazzling if mildly curious creation - this stunning conversion ring surely holds a wealth of stories we'll never know. Our best take on the construction of this piece is that the scintillating cluster of diamonds was once a component of an even larger and more staggering original piece - likely a large brooch or stomacher - that was later broken up to create multiple pieces that were (arguably) more wearable than the original. The flat backing of the mount is one of our best clues that its original form was meant to lay flat rather than on a hand or wrist. The ring itself appears to have been designed to give the diamond cluster maximum impact - in a head-on view, the ring disappears behind the face, allowing the diamonds to look as though they are simply floating above the finger. While we may never understand why the shank was made in 9k gold rather than the higher karat we would often think diamonds like these deserve, one of the pleasures of antiques is wondering about all of those who have handled and loved them before, in all of their imperfect glory.

The central diamond is a spready old mine cut, which means that it is cut slightly shallower than common for its circumference, resulting in it appearing larger than its calculated and estimated weight, and the stones in the halo often seem to straddle the styles of old mine and old European cuts, with the imperfect proportions and loose shapes so common in old hand cut stones. The silver mount would have been crafted as a stunning cut-down collet around the diamonds, but time has worn away some of the finer detail of the settings.

Words (and still photos) don't do this piece justice - be sure to check instagram.com/st.eloi for videos of this ring in action.

Very good antique condition with reasonable wear in line with age and use, including some chips as detailed below. Ring is a conversion with top in sterling silver c.1850s and a later 9k rosy gold band. Originally manufactured in the UK.

Details:
• 9k rosy gold and sterling silver, unstamped but tested throughout
• Size 4 7/8 and can be resized within half a size or fully reshanked
• Central old mine cut diamond approximately 1.17ct SI2 L-M, with small chip to girdle; nine mixed old cuts totalling approximately 1.65 carat total weight, overall SI2 J-K, one chipped on crown - diamond weight approximately 2.82 carat total weight (all stones measured and graded in-mount)
• Face of ring measures 16.9mm wide, 17.1mm across, with a rise of 6.4mm; back of band measures 1.2mm wide and 0.6mm thick
• 4g
• This ring comes with a third-party appraisal