This Victorian locket pendant with a demantoid green garnet is of French artisanship, handcrafted in 18k rose gold, weighs 7.6g and measures 2.25 inches long, 25mm wide and 13mm deep. This authentic, highly decorative locket pendant epitomizes the popular fashion for oval gold lockets, in vogue in the 1870's Victorian era. Gold lockets were often mounted with colored gems or enameled and chased with monograms, stars, straps and buckles and were complemented by silver lockets towards the end of 1870's. This intricate and highly decorative authentic Victorian pendant incorporates an ovular rose gold plaque, decorated with a highly ornate, naturalistically inspired, pierced openwork garlanded surround. Enhanced by an artistically chiseled perimeter, the alluring ovular plaque depicts a rectangular panel in relief exposing a six-point star, embellished with a 0.20ct prong-set round brilliant-cut demantoid green garnet measuring 3.44mm in diameter, graded an enchanting 'vivid-chartreuse' color and 'excellent' clarity. This arresting, color contrasted ovular plaque is vertically flanked by impeccable, quintessentially French style openwork scrolls, with artistically scalloped borders. This captivating pendant characterizing the 1870's Victorian 'sentimentalism' features a dual-sided locket compartment to conceal photographs or locks of hair from loved ones or any other memento of sentimental significance. A well-constructed triumvirate bale of pronounced size offers versatility of wear with different chains or, in purely Victorian style, with delicate velvet ribbons of contrasting color.
Referred to as the 'star of green garnets', demantoid is a green variety of the mineral andradite, a member of the garnet family of minerals. By definition, demantoid is always green, but the exact shade ranges from a very light yellowish peridot-color green to almost the color of a fine emerald. Due to its scarcity and extreme luminosity, demantoid is ranked amongst the most highly esteemed gemstones. Mined in the depths of the Ural Mountains in Russia, this valuable and very rare gem is most often found in antique jewelry from the turn of the 19th century. Russia's renowned jewelry designer Carl Fabergé admired greatly the green garnet and used it in many of his world famous creations.
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