Articles — Topazius

Historic Rings by Diana Scarisbrick: My “Grail” Book

I think everybody has at least one “grail” item, something you can’t easily get, but desperately want — made of “unobtainium”, to use my dad’s terminology. Whatever your grail item is, it’s rare, and if you find one, the price probably makes you cry. Mine is Historic Rings: Four Thousand Years of Craftsmanship, by Diana Scarisbrick. It’s out of print, it’s a foreign publication… it has all the makings of a quest, and it can be mine for as little as $600.

I don’t know what it is about rings. I keep coming back to them. I wear them, I make them, I obsess over them. They’re my favorite type of jewelry. Rings are the most easily seen and admired by the wearer, and oft-seen and admired by others. You do a lot with your hands. To come across a book covering a collection of almost 800 rings — 1,400 photographs!! — well, that’s pretty much the Ultimate Jewelry Book, Ever, as far as I’m concerned.

I just keep telling myself, one of these days… and then watch the price inch higher. Le sigh.

So that’s my grail book. What’s yours?

The Cheapside Hoard

Hat ornament in the form of a salamander: 16th-17th century

I’ve only recently heard of the Cheapside Hoard, “an unprecedented collection of jewelry from the late 16th and early 17th century discovered in 1912 by workers demolishing the Wakefield House in Cheapside, London, near St. Paul’s Cathedral.” (You can read an extended history of the find, courtesy of The History Blog. Quite informative!)

My favorite piece so far is a fabulous watch, carved from an emerald crystal, shown to the right.

The Cheapside Hoard will be exhibited in its entirety starting this fall, at the Museum of London, with all pieces reunited for the first time since their discovery. If the collection photographs are any indication, it should be a feast for the eyes! Check it out in person from 11 October 2013 through 27 April 2014.

Update: There’s also a lovely book to go with the exhibition; not a full catalog (alas!) but it has an extensive history of the find, the area, and the jewelry. Definitely worth a read!

A Taste for Antiquity

sapphire ring — Sapphire ring, 10th-11th century, Anglo-Saxon

I suppose I’ve been interested in antiquity all my life. Curious about ancient civilizations, I went to museums and pored over books in my mother’s extensive library. My love of jewelry has also been life-long, but it took a ring — this ring, in fact — to put the two together, in my mind. (Let’s get together, yah yah yah…)

I first heard of it in 2011, and was immediately taken by the design, the beautiful sapphire, the fine gold-work. I wanted to own it, I wanted to wear it. And if I couldn’t own it or wear it, I wanted to own and wear a replica of it.

(Interestingly, they’re having trouble dating the ring. They called in experts to discuss it in January, and came to a few new conclusions: it may be older than originally thought, it might have belonged to royalty. I think I love it the more for being mysterious!)

Ring; Western European, gold set with a cabochon sapphire, circa 1300-1400

The more I thought about it, the more I realized how lovely these ancient jewelry pieces are. The simplicity of this ring to your left, the interesting shape (designed around the stone), has a charm all its own. Call it “primitive” if you will, but I call it elegant.

There’s a gravity to ancient objects. They feel old. They’re not like modern jewelry, or even antique jewelry — and I’m not speaking of the technical skills required to make them, it’s not that. It’s an honesty about them. They are what they are. And I’m attracted to ruins, and ancient places; that sense of “old”, that feeling of deep history.

And so, here I am with a new blog, celebrating old jewelry.

I have nothing against modern jewelry — or modern fashion for that matter — but rather than join all the other people (online and off) trying to predict the “new” thing or the “next” thing, I’d rather bring your attention to the “old” thing. Forget the Spring 2013 Pantone colors. Let me show you these fabulous pieces of antiquity.

Trust me, this stuff never goes out of style. I hope you’ll join me!

The Evening Emerald

Early 1st century AD Roman finger ring of peridot and gold. Stone c. 25.9 x 21.4 x 8.8mm. Antikensammlung misc. inv. 7074. Courtesy of Antikensammlung, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. A. Greifenhagen, Schmuckarbeiten in Edelmetall, vol. 1, Berlin 1970, 81 pl. 60.9. Photo: Lisbet Thoresen.

“Topazius” is one ancient name for the stone we know as peridot (the mineral olivine, in gem-quality form.) Another name for it is “chrysolite” (no longer really used, as it could be confused with chrysoberyl.) The ancient texts on gemstones make it challenging, as one name can mean several different gem species (sapphire = anything blue, etc.) To make matters worse, an entirely different stone has almost the same name (derived from a different word.)

The truth is, chrysolite.com was taken, and “topazius” made such a cute .us domain although I’ve always liked “chrysolite”, there’s a neat sound to “topazius”, and I like that it represents the ancient source of one of my favorite gemstones. (And it does make a cute .us domain. It’s fun!)

Topazius (Peridot)

This gem derived its name from the island in the Red Sea, 300 stadia (30 miles) off the mainland, where it was first discovered …

… The gem was not discernible by day, its lustre being then overpowered by the sun’s rays, but at night was conspicuous by its brightness ; the guards, who divided the island among their patrols, then ran up and covered the luminous spot with a vase of equal size. Next day they go their rounds, and cut out the patch of rock thus indicated, and deliver it to the proper persons to be polished.

This stone was indubitably our Chrysolite, or Peridot ; the distinctive characters of which exactly agree with those pointed out by Pliny. His Topazius was imported from some place in the Red Sea … it was of a bright yellowish-green, a colour peculiar to itself (in suo virenti genere), and was the softest of all the precious stones, yielding to the file, and suffering from wear.
— The Natural History of Precious Stones and Gems, by C. W. King

See also a recent article in Minerva Magazine on this ancient source of peridot, courtesy of Pala Gems.

Topazius (Peridot)

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