Arts Crafts Pearl Ring

[Daddys Little Pearl]

Help needed on this ring, bought in the 80's from an antique jewelry dealer, definitive Arts & Crafts period piece in heavy sterling silver, one of a kind, came with a pin that was similar with smaller pearl but a different silver design that was signed for Denmark. Would love to know the type of pearl it features. Photos were not easy on this one. Under my natural Ott lite I see an ivory pearl without yellowing with a slight cool campagne tint, or maybe a hint of silver, hints of blue green gold purple etc iridescence when rotating it in the light, but we're talking a tiny hint, not obvious. Maybe this is what you call metallic? No need for a tooth test on this one, can feel the nacre with my fingernail. Irregular shape of course. Opinions?

Daddys Little Pearl

Antiques Jewelry & Sacred Treasures on RubyLane

 

[pattye]

A beauty there, some type of mabe, what an interesting setting. What time period are you meaning when you say Arts & Crafts? The pearls looks to be in great condition, no scratches or wearing, what about the ring itself?

 

[Pearl Dreams]

...What time period are you meaning when you say Arts & Crafts? ...

"Arts and Crafts was an international design movement that flourished between 1860 and 1910, especially in the second half of that period,[SUP][1][/SUP] continuing its influence until the 1930s."

From Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arts_and_Crafts_movement

 

[Daddys Little Pearl]

Hard to date it, A&C movement started in Europe in the 1860's until maybe 1910 or so, later in America. If this ring is European it may be older than I think, if American it could be as late as the 1940's. Pearl is in fabulous condition, ring has slight wear, it is very thick heavy sterling and I have not polished it in a long time, it does need a little touch up but I don't polish my antique or old jewelry very often as collectors often like it with the old patina. It is a very small size, I am actually thinking about having it enlarged so I can just keep it and wear it. Definitely mabe, but there seem to be so many varieties, I guess mabe is more of a style of pearl than a type? I have always assumed this is a naturally formed pearl, and probably Japanese, but that's as far as I can go with my limited knowledge. I am just now learning about terms previously unknown to me, such as metallic pearls, etc. It is much prettier than the photos, will try to shoot a few more in different light, I just could not capture the iridiscence very good.

Daddys Little Pearl

 

[Daddys Little Pearl]

More photos hopefully better detail on the color.

Daddys Little Pearl

 

[Lagoon Island Pearls]

Possibly an abalone blister. Occurence of these are common.

 

[pattye]

Pieces like this ring are so cool with the natural patina on the silver, I feel. In this case, Dave has the correct terminology, the pearl would be called a "natural blister" because it likely formed when a parasite bored through the shell creating an irritant over which the nacre built up. Mabes are cultured. (Have I explained that correctly, Dave. Those are beauties in your photos.)

I asked about the ring size because I wondered if it was created for a man; it looks somewhat masculine to me, but probably that is just because of the large photos. It is a fab ring and I would wear it in a heartbeat. This ring could inspire an author to write a novel~

 

[Lagoon Island Pearls]

Pattye explained that perfectly.

Perhaps one in fifty abalone shells will present with one or more blisters like these. They almost always seem to have the same oval shape with thickness equal to one third of the diameter.

Polydora are amazing critters and have the ability to drill holes through shells up to an inch thick.

 

[KarinK]

It sounds interesting that the ring should bemade in Denmark - where I live. It doesn't ring a bell but I don't know a lot about Danish vintage jewelry. Are you sure it can be made bigger? Won't it ruin the mab??

- Karin

 

[Daddys Little Pearl]

Thanks to all, this is quite helpful. As to size, definitely never made for a man, it is a small size, 5 or under, and does not appear to have been resized. The Denmark was only a guess, I acquired this with a bar pin, again a good Arts & Crafts design although not exactly matching to this ring, the pin was marked Denmark, it has smaller similar pearls, been so long since I sold it I can't remember a lot about it. It sold to a GIA certified gemologist form whom I used to buy a lot of jewelry myself, she wanted the ring also but I was not willing to sell it at the time. For some reason I do think it is European , most of the general antiques I have had for sale that were from the A&C period and from Europe seemed to have a bolder look than the American ones, but this is only a guess based on my past experience and the mark on the ring that came from the same estate originally.
I probably won't have it made bigger, and just keep it for sale in my shop, I would not want to risk ruining either the pearl or the silver design and weird things can happen. Thanks to all, keep it coming!

Daddys Little Pearl