The ring was a custom handmade ring likely made in the early 1940s. The yellow gold setting is14 karat gold. This ring is set with a larger hand-cut oval natural Amethyst Gemstone of 8.75 carats. The center Amethyst Gemstone is encircled with sixteen natural ocean seed pearls at 2.2 mm each. The Amethyst was set with 16 prongs holding the gemstone, and each pearl is set well into the gold then with three prongs.
Information on the Amethyst gemstone:
Amethyst: a Royal color - Purple has long been considered a royal color, so it is not surprising that Amethyst has been so much in demand during history. The Fine amethysts are featured in the British Crown Jewels and were also a favorite of Catherine the Great and Egyptian royalty. Amethyst, transparent purple quartz, is the most important quartz variety used in jewelry. Leonardo Da Vinci wrote that Amethyst was able to dissipate evil thoughts and quicken the intelligence.
In addition to the Gemstones, there are natural ocean pearls set into this pendant. The ocean pearls came from the Mediterranean Sea and were very laborious to retrieve, and then they had to find matching sizes and colors for the setting of this pendant.
Pearl History: Pearls, in fact, played a pivotal role at the most celebrated banquet in literature. To convince Rome that Egypt possessed a heritage and wealth that put it above conquest, Cleopatra wagered Marc Antony she could give the most expensive dinner in history. The Roman reclined as the queen sat with an empty plate and a goblet of wine (or vinegar). She crushed one large pearl of a pair of earrings, dissolved it in the liquid, and then drank it down. Astonished, Antony declined his dinner—the matching pearl—and admitted she had won. Pliny, the world's first gemologist, writes in his famous Natural History that the two pearls were worth an estimated 60 million sesterces, or 1,875,000 ounces of fine silver ($9,375,000 with silver at $5/ounce). In the Georgian period and much earlier, finding a valuable pearl requires as much luck as skill. And in their quest for both pearls and mother-of-pearl, people have sometimes taken extraordinary measures. For many centuries, divers for marine pearls had to outmaneuver sharks and other dangers to locate the pearl oysters they hoped would contain natural pearls. England and the Eastern United States desired the small seed pearl.
The ring is outstanding and will be noticed and is strong to wear and in excellent condition.