Gem & Cameo
Stone cameos are carved mainly from agates. These banded layer stones were predestined for the cameo carving. Onyx, sardonyx and cornelian are the most often appearing variations. The treatment of these materials is much more difficult than with softer materials, indeed, the result is also much more detailed and is finer than with softer materials.
Shell cameos became more popular about 1800 again, after their manufacturing experienced a decline in the time after the Renaissance. Shells are softer than layer stones and are easier and therefore and quicker to work on. The woodcarvers chose shells with ideally 3 layers to create the illusion of a most possible three-dimensionality. A big biodiversity of shells enabled a big colour variety in the jewellery creation.
Since antique times the coral is a talisman against evil spirits and has originated after the legend when Perseus had killed Medusa and her blood flowed into the sea. The coral, which was mainly used in the jewellery creation, was ‚corallium rubrum‘ whose colour spectrum ranges from dark red up to the brightest salmon tones. The coral was treated always a lot more sculptural than the relief-like presentations on the shell cameos.
A curiosity of a special kind is the so-called lava jewellery in the cameo carving. Actually, it is limestone, which was extracted at the foot of Vesuvius and was sold for marketing-technical reasons as lava. Since the 1840s it was a popular tourist jewellery for wealthy travellers on the Grand Tour. Lava cameos fascinate by their very big three-dimensionality and emit therefore an amazing liveliness.
The opposite of a cameo is a gem. With the gem the motive is cut recessed into the material. The gemstones, which were worked on in that way, are also called ‚intaglio‘. The gem, which is already known since approx. 6 millenniums, is the name father for the gemology. Cameos were already cut by the old Egyptians, Persians and Greeks. The ideal materials for it were stones of the quartz group, as chalzedone and sardonyxe (layer stones). Till this day they are still used in the jewellery design, with antique man’s rings, for example, as signet rings.
Click to fold
Cufflinks – Gold-plated
Glass-intaglio
Vintage – approx. 1960s
Sizes each cufflink:
Length: ca. 2,1 cm (0.83 inches)
Width: ca. 2,1 cm (0.83 inches)
Weight: 3,1 g
Product No.: M711
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Please note, this ring can be sized for maximum 6 German numbers larger or smaller!
Men’s ring / Signet-ring – 9 ct. gold
Cornelian
Hand-engraved family’s coat of arms!
Victorian – Birmingham, England 1891
International ring sizes:
DE – 49
GB – J/K
US – 5
Ring-head sizes: ca. 1,2 x 1,4 cm (0.47 x 0.55 inches)
Weight: 4,8 g
Product No.: 1541
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Please note, this ring can be sized for maximum 6 German numbers larger or smaller!
Signet ring / Men’s ring – 9 ct. gold
Cornelian
Intaglio of a god’s head in profile.
Vintage – Birmingham, England 1985
International ring sizes:
DE – 60,5
GB – S/T
US – 9 ¼
Ring-head sizes: ca. 1,4 x 2,0 cm (0.55 x 0.79 inches)
Weight: 5,5 g
Product No.: 0696
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Brooch – Shell cameo
Gold-plated frame
Hand-carved motif of a genre’s scene.
France approx. 1840-1850
Width: ca. 4,7 cm (1.85 inches)
Heigth: ca. 5,4 cm (2.13 inches)
Weight: 16,1 g
Product No.: 1151
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Brooch – Shell cameo
15 ct. gold frame
Enamel
Motif: Rachel and the lamb.
Victorian – England approx. 1850
Length: ca. 7,3 cm (2.87 inches)
Width: ca. 6,5 cm (2.56 inches)
Weight: 32,7 g
Product No.: 2215
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Ring – 18 ct. gold
Onyx cameo & pearls
Cameo motif: A muse.
Victorian – France approx. 1880
International ring sizes:
DE – 55
GB – O/P
US – 7 ½
Ring-head sizes: ca. 1,0 x 1,7 cm (0.39 x 0.67 inches)
Weight: 2,7 g
Product No.: 1536
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