Historical Jewelry for the Dead

Question: Dear Mr. Foard,

I'm hoping you can help me. I would like to know where I could go to find info on historical jewelry.

It's weird, but I am looking for information about a ring that I saw. The band was made of some sort of matte black stone, with some black shiny marquis cut stone set in it. The weird thing is that it wasn't set with traditional prongs, it was sort of tied to the band with a gold wire.

I would appreciate if you could point me in the right direction.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Answer: G'day and many thanks for your query

Firstly - please don't call me Mr Foard - That was my Father! My name is David ;o)

Many of these black gemstone designed rings are what they call Mourning Rings, and were made to literally commemorate someone who had passed away. They were often seen as black enamel or (as in this case) if you are sure it was made from a matt black stone - Black Onyx or Hematite.

Occasionally these rings also had a special compartment where a lock of hair was placed and this makes me believe (although I haven't seen it) that it could have once had something underneath the gemstone.

Over time the item may have become worn or broken so someone has simply used a wire to hold the gem in place.

There are several good site with information on antique jewelry and you can always do a search on eBay for Mourning Jewelry (try Google or your Favorite search engine).

One of my frequent sites is Antique Jewelry of the 20th Century ( http://www.jewellery-antiques.com/ ) where there is a ton of articles, or you might like to try the Antique Jewelry Fair ( http://www.antique-jewelry-fair.com ) as they occasionally have old jewelry like this for sale.

Hope this helps...