Description
HISTORY
The ouroboros (from the Greek "Devouring Snake") has been alive and kicking since the Ancient Egyptians, who first used it as a marker of the beginning and end of time in tomb and funerary art. Centuries later, the Romans embraced the snake as a symbol of everlasting love, but its popularity in jewelry is still most often attributed to Prince Albert, who famously asked for Queen Victoria's hand in 1839 with a gold and emerald ring shaped like a snake eating its tail. Their love story was known as one for the ages, and Victorians celebrated all things serpentine as the go-to signifier of never-ending love, rebirth and protection.
Prized for their beauty and luster, natural abalone pearls, half-domes of swirling greens, blues, pinks and even silver golds, are some of the rarest gemstones in the world. Literally one in a million, they are created in much the same way as other pearls, when an outside irritant inspires the mollusk to cover it with layers of mother of pearl, but because abalone mollusks only have one shell, these are both incredibly rare and unusually shaped. Each unique as the human fingerprint, they are rarely found in the wild and regarded among the most precious of natural pearls.
Please note this piece ships with a certified Gemological Laboratory appraisal attesting to the pearl's authenticity as natural (uncultured) and a resale value of $3,800.
MATERIALS
18k Gold, 14k Gold, Abalone Blister Pearl
CONDITION
Excellent - Stone and setting are in perfect condition with beautiful detail and no blemishes. Hand engraved band is a modern addition.
HALLMARKS
None
AGE
Mid-1800s
SIZE
Size 7.5. Face of the ring measures approximately 19 x 16mm.