Elegant Art Deco ring with Colombian emerald & diamonds, circa 1930s

In Wagner's Wesendonck-Lieder, the lyrical self sings of "canopies of emerald", canopies of leaves from exotic plants that arch above her in the sky. It is an image of sprawling tropics, even though, as later becomes clear, the foreign plants have been transplanted from afar to Central Europe and are now longingly remembering their homeland under a warmer sun. The fact that the emerald stands for the primeval forest here is not only due to its color. The best emeralds have always been found in Colombia, so they themselves come from the middle of the jungle. And when the light plays inside such a stone, the most beautiful images of a sprawling, paradisiacal environment come to mind all by themselves. This precious ring also conveys such a tempting, beguiling excursion into a tropical jungle. A wonderful emerald from Colombia is set between just over one carat of old-cut diamonds. The stone is deep green and yet has a warm glow. A few fine inclusions, the so-called "jardin", lend it a soft light. The ring sets the gemstones in platinum. They form a dome that curves elegantly across the finger. Fine milgrains and sawn joints structure the design, which is actually rather flat. This gives the ring an inner tension that is typical of jewellery from the peak of Art Déco around 1930. We discovered the ring in Vienna.

Estimate:£4,914.21

View all items fromHofer AntikschmuckorJewellery & Gems