Diamond and red spinel earrings

[Mrs_Strizzle]

Hi all. I bought these earrings from a private seller. They have no markings at all. My jeweler confirmed that they are "strong 18k", diamond, and red spinel. The seller says she was told they were French, but again, nothing stamped. Anyone care to throw in 2 cents?

 

[kgizo]

I can’t make out the faceting on the diamonds. Is it possible to get a better pic? To you do they look OEC, tranny or MRB? I’ve never heard of spinel used in older pieces as halo material so curious what the experts think. The style is very pretty and the color of the red spinels is lovely.

 

[Mrs_Strizzle]

I'm thinking they are a mix of OEC and transitional, but even in person they are so hard to tell. The diamonds are 3mm, so quite small. I've had a hard time getting good pics of them, these pics were taken by the previous owner. I had them tested by my jeweler because honestly the backside of the earrings didn't look like gold to me. He suggested they may be from the "far east" because of how yellow the gold is. I thought it was interesting about the spinels too. The seller stated she thought they were synthetic ruby, but sure enough they test as spinel.

 

[Bron357]

My thought is they were “remodeled”. I think the top section and the backs are more recent additions. The top diamond on the hook doesn’t seem to have the same milligrain bezel as the main part?
I had some sapphire and gold clip on earrings remodeled and “lost” the hallmarks as they were on the clips, not the front / body of the earring.

 

[Mrs_Strizzle]

@Bron357 that may be exactly what happened, thanks for the thought.

Although very pretty and super sparkly, I may not keep them because of the weight of the 18k gold. I have slightly stretched out ear holes from wearing too big of earrings in the 90s, so I am a little self conscious about wearing any that have any weight. They are 4.5 grams each, so not unreasonable, just a bit for me.

 

[PreRaphaelite]

Gorgeous! These are Dormeuses, sleeper earrings. However the presence of milgrain, and of white gold centers, suggests later vintage (after 1910) rather than Victorian when that earring type was first popular in France. They might even be more recent than that, and made as a copy of the old style, but they are finely made from what I can see. The scalloped outer rim does seem French in style but these could also be English or American. The eagle’s head (or whatever hallmarks) would indeed have been on the original ear hooks, just as Bron said.

ps - They might have been sold as Rubies back in the day, as so many red stones were, but Spinels have been available forever, even back in the 16th century.

 

[Mrs_Strizzle]

@PreRaphaelite, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with me! Your logic about the spinels perhaps being sold as rubies makes perfect sense and is encouraging me to think they MAY be genuine as well (I decided to assume they are synthetic spinel).

 

[PreRaphaelite]

I've been staring at Victorian rubies forever and I love them beyond all reason! Alas, I have yet to pick up any - but someday...