Skip to content
Antique Old Mine-cut Diamond Star Brooch
$10,500
Dating from circa 1885-1890, this late Victorian star brooch is set with over five carats of old mine-cut diamonds. It is designed as star with six long arms interspersed with subsidiary arms, set throughout with cushion and elongated cushion shape old mine, rose and single-cut diamonds, mounted in patinated silver-topped gold. Modern in its clean, geometric form, this versatile jewel, a product of highly skilled workmanship, showcases fiery old diamonds whose brilliance pops against the dark silver.
- Product Details
- Curator's Notes
Item #: BO-21282
Country: most likely England
Circa: 1885-1890
Dimensions: 2.00" length, 1.75" width.
Materials: 49 old mine-cut diamonds (approximate total weight 5.85 carats); Silver-topped Gold
The popular passion for star and comet-themed diamond and gem-set jewelry remained ignited throughout the 19th century. With advances in photography and spectroscopy in the early mid-century, the field was rapidly transformed as scientists used new instrumentation to learn about the nature of the sun, the distances of stars from the earth, and the structure of nebulae. In 1885, an international group of scholars mapping the sky created the "Carte du Ciel". Large audiences attended paid lectures to learn about the latest discoveries, demonstrated in colored slide projections. The public was fascinated by the new understanding of the events occurring in the sky, from the many 19th century comets passing over to other celestial phenomena such as the transits of Venus across the Sun, a rare event which occurred twice in quick succession in 1874 and 1882.