Van Sipma Jewelers

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American Gem Society: The Power of Love

By the mid-eighteenth century, the light-hearted rococo spirit influenced design. Now that colored as well as white diamonds were acceptable, the stones became more and more the focus of elaborate design. There were many variants of the heart motif, set with both white and colored diamonds, transfixed by arrows, twinned and crowned, or tied with a lover's knot.
The late eighteenth century lady took great delight in showing off her delicate and clever little rings to her friends. In this example the word 'AMITE' (friendship) is set with small rose-cut diamonds, an endearing message from an admirer.
Set in silver the letters give the diamonds a sparkling whiteness. Each letter is mounted on a band of the thinnest gold, riveted at the base. The ring fans out when pulled open, and closes again to deliver its harmonious message.
From the 1770's such emblems were replaced by loving declarations spelled out in diamond letters - SOUVENIR, AMITE, AMOUR - on flat, dark blue enamelled bezels framed in pearls or rose-cut diamonds. There was also an ingenious extension of the gimmel principle where each letter was attached to a separate hoop which all came together to form one ring.

Princess Charlotte of Mecklenberg Strelitz was married to George III in September 1761. Queen Charlotte received so much jewelry from him and from the subject Princes of India that she was called the Queen of Diamonds.
Pretty, delicate, colorful, feminine jewelry of this kind was the perfect expression of the elegant and refined taste of the period. Rings symbolic of love were treasured, and none more than the betrothal ring. Keeper rings, the forerunner of today's diamond eternity rings and made to be worn above the precious ring, became popular. To safeguard her wedding ring, Queen Charlotte placed a diamond keeper next to it on her finger. This keeper ring is still at Windsor Castle.

Sentiment was not confined to fine ladies. The great lexicographer Dr. Samuel Johnson defined a ring in his dictionary as: "a circular instrument placed upon the noses of hogs and the fingers of women to restrain them and bring them into subjection." All the same, after his wife's death, the devoted Dr. Johnson kept her wedding ring in a box bearing the following inscription:

"Eheu! Eliza Johnson, Nupta July 9, 1736, Mortua, eheu! Mar. 17, 1752."
In this century, the posy ring changed character. Instead of being hidden in the hoop, the inscriptions were decoratively enamelled on the outside - the sentiments suggesting light-hearted felicities rather that solemn intent. (Ironically, the Romantic motto "Sans peur" was the choice of Miss Annabella Milbanke when she married Lord Byron in 1815.) The enchanting history of the posy ring finally ended with the Wedding Ring Act which, by making full hall marking compulsory, banished the space needed for inscription.

American Gem Society: The Power of Love

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