Description
RENAISSANCE DIAMOND RING WITH INVINCIBLE LOVE IN GOLD AND ENAMEL
Gold ring with a slender D-section hoop. On the slightly widened shoulders are black enameled brickwork ornament and inverted fleurs-de-lis ends with green and opaque dark blue enamel. These support, on the underside, a four-lobed bezel with white-enameled ridges. Above, four cusps with black enamel outlines and foliate motifs in gold are set against red enamel. The cusps frame a point-cut diamond in collet setting. The ring shows signs of wear through age, especially on the underside of the bezel with missing enamel and the slightly misshapen hoop. But it remains in good, wearable condition.
Literature:
Diamond and earlier European variants of the name derive via Latin from the Ancient Greek word “adamas,” meaning invincible. In his Naturalis Historia, the Roman author Pliny the Elder (d. 79 AD) wrote of gemstones, describing the diamond’s exceptional hardness and durability, qualities that made it a privilege reserved for those of royal status. Despite this prestige, diamonds are rarely found in Roman rings, with the earliest known examples dating only to the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, and little is known about their symbolic significance during that period. It was not until the 15th century that literary references began to associate diamonds explicitly with betrothal and marriage. The earliest widely cited example is the diamond betrothal ring given to Mary, Duchess of Burgundy, in 1477 upon her marriage to the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I (1459–1519), though earlier examples are also known. Over the centuries, diamonds came to symbolize virtue, constancy, and fidelity, and were worn by both men and women as emblems of an enduring and faithful union. To this day, diamonds are associated with eternal love.
For variants of this design, compare a related ring in the Museum für Angewandte Kunst (MAK), Vienna (exh. cat. A Sparkling Age: 17th Century Diamond Jewellery, Diamantmuseum, Antwerp, 1993, no. 16, 1660-1650); as well as examples in the Alice and Louis Koch Collection at the Swiss National Museum, Zurich (Chadour 1994, vol. I, nos. 679, 683, 684); and Scarisbrick 2007, p. 307, figs. 428–429, pp. 299–335.
On the history of jewels of love and diamond rings, see Beatriz Chadour-Sampson, The Power of Love, London 2019, pp. 21, 36-38.; and Marion Fasel, The History of Diamond Engagement Rings: A True Romance, 2024.
