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An exquisite 19th century ruby and diamond flower necklace.

I stumbled across this beautiful 19th century ruby and diamond flower necklace in the Christie’s auction archives the other week and I was going to just pin it to Pinterest, but I decided that this level of beauty deserves its very own post.

Sadly I don’t know very much about this Victorian masterpiece, so this is going to be a lot of “ooh look, isn’t it pretty?”. But I don’t think you’ll mind. It’s REALLY pretty.

A stunning late ruby and diamond flower necklace from Victorian era, circa 1880.

Yeah.

THAT is how you do a diamond flower necklace. Look at those heavy, naturalistic blooms, bursting with old-cut diamonds and accented by richly red ruby buds. Exquisite. This, my darlings, is luxury.

The diamonds are old mine cut: you can see a few beautifully chunky old collet settings around the edges of the flowers that hold diamonds as well as those that hold circular-cut rubies.

Let’s get closer.

Detail view; a stunning late ruby and diamond flower necklace from Victorian era, circa 1880.

I just can’t with these flowers. They’re perfect.

The necklace itself is about 15 inches long, so it’s fairly short. It would wreathe its wearer’s neck in elegant voluptuous blossoms, leaving a wide expanse of collarbone and decolletage bare beneath. (Assuming a low-cut gown, which is what I’m pair this glorious diamond flower necklace with in my mind wardrobe.)

But back to actual information: the settings are a mix of silver and gold. The flowers themselves seem to be set mostly in silver, while there’s a definite use of yellow gold near all of the rubies. You can get a better look at the mix of metals in a detail view of the back of the piece.

Top detail view; a stunning late ruby and diamond flower necklace from Victorian era, circa 1880.

Also: the there is so much gold along the base of the necklace, the core circle that goes around the neck, that it creates the effect of glorious diamond flowers blooming on a golden branch with ruby buds. I wonder what those ruby buds would bloom into if they could?

An exquisite 19th century ruby and diamond flower necklace, with detail view.

What do you think, my darlings? Do you love this Victorian ruby and diamond flower necklace as much as I do? If not: what would you change?

And the most fun question: what would you wear this with if it were yours?

This 19th century ruby and diamond flower necklace was listed in a 2009 Christie’s auction. All images and info are thanks to Christie’s.

 An exquisite 18th century ruby and diamond flower necklace in silver and gold. Victorian era. Detail views of back and front. An exquisite 18th century ruby and diamond flower necklace in silver and gold. Victorian era.

An antique enamel flower jewelry roundup.

Good morning, my darlings!

First things first, I want to thank each and every one of you who entered my giveaway for the Trademark Antiques pendant. It’s now on its way to its lucky new owner, Emily T. I was thrilled that we had so many entries (almost 1,000!!) and I love love loved reading all of your comments.

Since there was a such a terrific response to the giveaway, I thought I’d do a post today dedicated to pieces similar to the one from the giveaway. Some of these are obviously similar, others just have what I feel is a similar aesthetic vibe.

The important part is that these beauties are all for sale and waiting to be scooped up – or pointed out to people who should be starting to think about what to buy you for the upcoming winter holidays. They range in price from around $85 to around $1,700. Happy hunting!

Three antique necklaces with enamel details. A pear with diamond accent, a lavalier with pearls, and a diamond and enamel pansy pendant.
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Starting things out with these sweet little pendants. I’m aware that the first one is actually a pear, not an antique enamel flower: it’s demonstrating my point about including pieces with a similar vibe. Isn’t it lovely?

It’s sharing the spotlight here with a pearl and enamel flower-adorned lavaliere (with what I believe is a forget-me-not) and a sweet little blue pansy pendant with a diamond center.
Three antique pendent necklaces in gold with floral themes, one with an enamel pansy.(1/2/3)

These three are all a different. We’ve got pretty, twining leaves on the first pendant – I think they might be laurel leaves, symbolic of victory – but the dealer doesn’t specify.

The middle pendant is a wreath of golden ivy, which, in this infinite circular form, would symbolize an eternal promise of friendship, love, or fidelity. The third is a locket decorated with an enamel pansy. In the language of flowers, pansy means “think of me” – a pun on the French “pense à moi.”

Three beautiful Art Nouveau pendants in gold with pearls.(1/2/3)

We’re moving up in price point for a minute to admire these gorgeous Art Nouveau pendants in gold. While the first of these has an antique enamel flower – or at least enamel leaves on a gold-and-pearl flower – the others are just gold floral motifs too beautiful to exclude.

The middle pendant boasts a round border of vivid green enamel; the third pendant, a large central amethyst. They’re all adorned with pearls.

An assortment of antique gold pins featuring enamel flowers. Most feature pearl or diamond accents.
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I thought we’d take a tiny break from necklaces to look at pins! I keep hearing around the internet that the brooch is back – I’m totally on board, so I plan on adding some brooches to my collection sooner rather than later. Any one of these would extremely wearable; perfect to stick on the lapel of a jacket, edge of a cardigan, or band of a wool hat. 

Most of these are Victorian “honeymoon” brooches, designed like crescent moons adorned with flowers. The sweet nectar of the flower represents the honey. Honeymoon pins were commonly gifted to brides, because the Victorians were nothing if not committed to symbolism.

Antique Art Nouveau gold and enamel necklace with pearls; also shown in antique box.

This beautiful thing is like the giveaway pendant’s older, fancier cousin. And yes, it’s the reason for the upper end of the price range. I just couldn’t bring myself to leave it out. It’s gorgeous. Also Art Nouveau, adorned with enamel floral detailing and pearls.

These pendants are all converted from Victorian honeymoon pins, which symbolized love.
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These antique enamel flower necklaces are all made from converted honeymoon pins like some of the ones we looked at above. So pretty and wearable.

Antique enamel flower rings; stickpins converted into rings by Trademark Antiques.

And last but far from least: a whole crop of Trademark Antiques’ converted antique enamel flower rings. The vast majority of these started life a stickpins; they’ve been repurposed as rings for greater wearability and fabulousness.

That brings me to the end of my finds for the day, darlings. I hope you’ve enjoyed these antique enamel flower pieces. Please let me know if you end up adding any to your collection – I’d love to see a photo of how you wear it!

All of these pieces are for sale by the sellers linked to in the source links above. All images and info are thanks to the dealers referenced in the source links.

A ring made from a converted antique enamel flower pin with a pearl center. Another batch of antique enamel flower rings. These pretty little things are all stickpins converted into rings by Trademark Antiques. Antique enamel flower rings. These pretty little things are all stickpins converted into rings by Trademark Antiques. These antique brooches are what's known as a Victorian honeymoon brooch - they were traditionally given to brides. Antique Art Nouveau gold and enamel necklace with pearls. These three necklaces are made from converted Victorian honeymoon pins. Two antique Art Nouveau flower necklaces with pearls, diamonds, and enamel detailing.

Store profile: Trademark Antiques.

If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I visited the January DC Big Flea and had a wonderful time there scouring the aisles for treasures.  I’ll tell you about the Big Flea soon, but right now we’re going to talk about my dates for the Flea: noted jewelry purveyors Jessica and Jason Sitko.

Jessica and Jason own the fabulous Trademark Antiques, which you’re already familiar with if you do much hunting for antique jewelry on Etsy or Ruby Lane.

Beautiful antique rings from Trademark Antiques

I can confirm firsthand that in addition to having an incredible eye, Jessica and Jason are extremely nice and really fun to walk a show with.

I also feel like we are kindred spirits because J & J’s background looks a lot like my current day job situation: before moving away and focusing more intently on their jewelry business, they were both DC-area professionals with very DC-like jobs.

Antique necklaces from Trademark Antiques

Trademark Antiques carries a fantastic assortment of antique jewelry, from pretty little rings at affordable price points to spectacular one-of-a-kind masterpieces. The only reason I don’t own anything from them is that I can never pick just one piece to buy.

Antique snake jewelry at Trademark Antiques

I’m head over heels for these snakes. This is also a great example of Trademark Antiques’ photography: their Instagram is a must-follow, in my opinion.

This antique Art Nouveau necklace features a beautiful floral design and the fabulous green stone, chrysoprase. At Trademark Antiques.

This Art Nouveau necklace with floral design and chrysoprase stones is just beautiful. Pieces like this are great because, while you can clearly feel the Art Nouveau aesthetic, it’s easily wearable with a contemporary look. Don’t you love the color of chrysoprase?

Conversion rings from Trademark Antiques. These pretty rings were all antique stickpins before Trademark Antiques converted them into rings to give them new life.

Trademark Antiques is particularly well known for their spectacular conversion pieces, which are pieces of jewelry that have been converted from one form into another. The rings above are all converted antique stickpins (and could they possibly be prettier??).

Antique turquoise and enamel bracelet from Trademark Antiques

I could stare at this turquoise and enamel bracelet all day.  A riot of gold and blue and white, just waiting to adorn a lucky wrist. It’s also posed on a beautiful old book, as if I needed any more reasons to adore Jessica and Jason.

This sweet little guy was originally an antique stickpin. He's 14k gold with garnet eyes, and available at Trademark Antiques. Do you think he looks more like a French bulldog or a Boston terrier?

This sweet little guy appeared recently on Trademark Antiques’ Instagram and everyone lost their minds over him (for good reason). He’s 14k gold with soulful garnet eyes. Do you think he looks more like a French bulldog or a Boston terrier?

This Victorian brooch looks like a seashell, but it's actually a carefully carved banded agate with a diamond set in gold. Available at Trademark Antiques.

This Victorian brooch looks like a seashell, but it’s actually a carefully carved banded agate. Such an incredible piece.

Spectacular Edwardian platinum and diamond filigree necklace at Trademark Antiques

This killer Edwardian necklace has been at Trademark Antiques for a while. I know this because I am passionately in love with it and I like to visit its listing periodically. I’m crazy for everything about it: its sinuous silhouette, its crisp Greek key filigree details, its delicious old European center diamond. It’s a perfect piece.

Vintage and antique conversion rings at Trademark Antiques. These beauties were originally stickpins.

As you can see, Trademark Antiques features a glorious and large inventory of antique jewelry from the easily wearable to the utterly jaw-dropping. If you like what you’ve seen here, get on over to their website ASAP.

All images and info in this post are thanks to Trademark Antiques. To purchase any of the pieces above, please visit Trademark Antiques on Etsy or Ruby Lane.

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