Several characteristic techniques and styles help to place jewelry within the period spanning 1790-1820.

Rule number one of jewelry identification is to look at the back or reverse first. You will note that in these exceptional Georgian earrings, all of the stones are set into closed metal. Only the tops of the gemstones show.

Additionally, the treatment for the back is flat and the profile is thin. Earlier earrings and jewelry often utilized bulbous, sculptural, and rounded metal to the reverse. But this transitioned during these decades to a more neoclassical outlook.

Length is another key. At this time, European women's costumes and dress were often draped low across the chest (sometimes covered by diaphanous scarves termed fichus), and the hair was upswept.

This was the perfect backdrop for elongated, dangling earrings to highlight the neck and face.

Rhodolite and almandine garnets were favored gemstones; perhaps you have seen them used in pansy motif jewelry. Rose gold (9K) was another often employed precious metal.

Superb overall, these earrings are set with flat-cut purple-hued garnets, ranging in shades from claret red, to light peony pink. Formerly day-night in configuration, that would have back-to-front ear wires, some time ago they were converted to a single earring with post fittings.

The foiling beneath the garnets takes these to magical heights. Circa 1810 and over 200 years old, fine and rare.

Provenance: From a private Texas collection purchased from The Three Graces in 2004.