Our luminescent opal pendant earrings feature elegant torpedo-shaped drops suspended from graceful millegrain diamond surmounts. Lively flashes of green, icy blue, salmon pink and violet are stunning in combination with the sparkling diamonds. The drops are capped with domed filigree terminals set with diamonds. Quintessentially belle époque, diamonds are set in platinum to enhance their whiteness and create the monochromatic color scheme, so beloved in the period. Though they have passed their 100th birthday, they are truly sumptuous and absolutely current.
Milky opals were adored throughout the late nineteenth century despite their curious reputation as a stone associated with bad luck, most likely the result of the doomed heroine of Sir Walter Scott’s Anne of Geierstein. Undeterred by the rampant superstition, Queen Victoria was their champion. and proudly wore the opal jewels gifted to her by Prince Albert. The prince, a staunch supporter of the newly discovered Australian opal mines of 1849, was undoubtedly aware of the queen’s sartorial power to redefine the symbolic language of the opal and create a jewelry sensation. All hail the queen.
Era: Victorian
Origin: England
Circa: 1890
Condition: Excellent
Materials: Opal, diamonds, platinum and 18k gold
Dimensions: 32 mm long
Weight: 7.2 grams
A John Patrick organic washed cotton camisole and denim.
$3,400.00
