This ring was handmade of 16 karat gold and marked 16 karat inside the rings band. I do not have a test for 16 karat but it tests higher than 15 karat and less than 18 karat and I have had a few gold items that were 16 karat in the early to mid 19th Century. This ring is from a collector in Boston and circa dated to 1855 or earlier. The natural gemstone is hand cut and set in a handmade bezel setting. The peridot is 1 carat weight by measuring across the face for the gem. The shoulders of the ring are textured by hand and a leaf design on each side of the gemstone is hand enameled in black, which gives an overall dramatic look to the ring.

Information on the Peridot Gemstone:
Peridot is an ancient and yet currently very popular gemstone. It is so old that it can be found even in Egyptian jewelry from the early second millennium BC. The stones used in those days came from an occurrence on a little volcanic island in the Red Sea, about 70 km off the Egyptian coast, off Asian. The ancient Romans were already quite fond of the gemstone and coveted the brilliant green sparkle, which does not change either in artificial light. They already named the stone “Evening Emerald”. Peridot is found in Europe in many medieval churches decorating several treasures, like, for example, in the Cologne Cathedral. In the era of Baroque the deep green gemstone experienced another short flourishing, before it became forgotten.

Peridot is the birthstone for August and meant “Hope & Victory” in the Victorian time period. The ring is a Size 7 3.4 now and has been resized before and can be resized again.