Antique jewelry glossary

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Marquise ring

See our: marquise jewelry.

A type of finger ring that has a vertical elliptical bezel pointed at both ends and is set with a large gemstone (usually a diamond) or paste, sometimes with a surround of small diamonds, a cluster of diamonds, seed pearls or small gemstones, or a cameo or a jasper medallion made by Wedgwood.

Some examples used as mourning jewelry have enamelling on the bezel in purple or black or enclose under the bezel a miniature, usually of a woman weeping by a willow or urn. Such rings were introduced in the second half of the 18th century.

From: An Illustrated Dictionary of Jewelry, autor: Harold Newman, publishers: Thames and Hudson