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Barnebys HQ
Brahegatan 10
BOX 5038
114 37 Stockholm
All auctions / Jewellery & Gems / Vintage Ballerina Ring With Afghan Emerald & Diamonds, 1970s
The ring here is a small sculpture: high above the finger floats a composition of white gold, diamonds and an emerald. Its colour is intense green and it is very clear. Delicate inclusions, the so-called jardin, prove that it is a natural stone. Because completely clear and translucent is no emerald. Rather, it is the silky luster of the inclusions that determines its beauty. The emerald is special because it comes from Afghanistan. There, in the Panschir Valley, emeralds have been mined since about 1970, and their quality is not inferior to those from the Muzo mine in Colombia. The stones even show, a coincidence of geology, quite similar inclusions as these, but they are much rarer available than Colombian emeralds: Due to the political situation of the last decades, only single stones ever reached the market. The emerald weighing just over 2.10 carats is surrounded by diamonds weighing 3.48 carats. First a frame of diamonds, around the emerald. Then a swinging wave of trapezoids, with great gesture and momentum. Up and down the band of diamond swings, like the skirt of a dancer spinning faster and faster. It's not for nothing that rings like this are called "ballerina" rings. This form of entourage ring emerged in the 1960s and always accompanies a precious coloured stone with a select mix of diamonds in different cuts. These are arranged in such a way that they are reminiscent of the folds of a fanned-out tutu seen from above: just as if one were looking out of an opera box at the ballerinas, as Degas was so fond of painting them, for example in the painting L'Étoile from 1878. An independent certificate has confirmed the quality of the materials as well as the origin of the emerald and comes with the ring. We discovered the jewellery here in Berlin.
Estimate:£13,580.96
To the auctionView all items fromHofer AntikschmuckorJewellery & Gems
Estimate:
£13,580.96
RING 18K VITGULD MED 1 ODLAD PÄRLA OCH 3 BRILJANTER.
09/29/2026
£225.96
Est: £302.98
SKJORTKNAPPAR & MANSCHETTKNAPP, 14k guld, 3 st skjortknappar dekoretat
09/29/2026
£165.7
Est: £166.64
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