Antique Rose Cut Diamond Articulated Snake Ring | US 8.5

A Georgian articulated serpent that coils twice around the finger, the body built in flexible silver-topped yellow gold links so it tightens and releases with the wearer's movement. The head is set with a 0.60-carat rose cut (Cape/SI-I) diamond crowned by a smaller rose cut and flanked by cabochon ruby eyes, with 46 graduated rose cuts running down the body for approximately 1.90 carats total. Serpent jewelry surged at the turn of the nineteenth century — a symbol of eternity and renewal that Queen Victoria's later engagement ring would cement into the period vocabulary — but the articulated construction here is the earlier Georgian convention, where the metalwork itself was the marvel.

Please note, carat weights are estimates provided within limitations of closed settings.