Stories from My Collection - Victorian Turquoise & Seed Pearl Ring

By Margaret

In the spring of 2025, my mom and I spent the day at a vintage pop up event in Charlotte, NC. It was a fantastic day, and is one that will always be very special to me, as it was the last activity we did just the two of us before she passed away. There were a few vintage and antique jewelry vendors there with booths, and I took home a few pieces that will always stay in my collection: a Victorian sterling fleur-de-lis watch fob that my mom bought for me, and two rings that I bought for myself. I'd like to write about all 3 pieces soon, but for now, let's focus on this Victorian beauty.

Victorian seed pearl and turquois ring, she’s a beaut

This ring caught my eye instantly, which is funny because I'm usually drawn first to sparkles, but this one is undeniably old. And I love that. It is 9k gold, with a warm rosy tone. It doesn't have any typical hallmark stamps, but instead has a hand-etched “37” on the inside. This could be a casual jeweler’s mark for 9k gold (37.5% gold), or maybe a date.

YOLO engraving - love it

The ring has two bright, robin’s egg blue turquoise halves in the center, surrounded by natural saltwater seed pearls, which have also been painstakingly cut in half.  Back then, jewelers used a natural adhesive to glue them into place.  As you can see on my ring, the gold framing hugs the pearls with a tiny scalloped pattern around the outside.  It’s really amazing that the pearls and turquoise are all still present- think of all they have seen!  The split shank and more delicate look of the ring, along with the pearl design and structure, date this ring to around the mid 1850s through possibly 1870s.  That’s a lot of history.  

I can’t remember a single other piece of jewelry from that display case that day.  This ring just immediately called to me, like the Aztec gold coin from Pirates of the Caribbean.  (Fun fact:  Debbie and I saw Curse of the Black Pearl exactly ten times in theaters when it came out.  We were big fans, ok?!) ANYWAY, I guess what I’m saying is that I absolutely love this ring and am more than happy to keep it and eventually pass it down.