Jewellery treasures at Masterpiece London online @masterpiecefair on Artsy @artsy 💚 Emerald and Enamel Solitaire Ring Western Europe, c. 1680-1720. Provenance: European Private Collection. Exhibitor: Les Enluminures @lesenluminures This flashy solitaire ring shows off a large Columbian table-cut emerald set with coloured enamel on the trumpet-shaped shoulders and the underside of the bezel. The shapely form of the enamel shoulders and the vivid effects of color suggest the influence of Gilles Légaré, court jeweller to King Louis XIV, who published in 1663 a series of Baroque designs for rings that were widely disseminated, influencing goldsmiths throughout continental Europe. The Spanish Conquistadors are credited with discovering emeralds in Columbia in the sixteenth century, and they went on to market them in European capitals. Along with diamonds, rock crystals, and rubies, emeralds are a popular gemstone in Renaissance and Baroque cluster rings of Spanish fabrication. The emerald was also a favorite at the French court of Louis XIV. Jewellery by Hungarian artisans also showed off emeralds, and well-traveled Hungarian artists and journeymen goldsmiths returned from obligatory tours of European cultural centres to adapt new forms and designs at home. Symbolic of love, equated with happiness and hope, the emerald may have had a personal meaning for the giver as a token of sentiment. #MasterpieceLondon #Artsy #renaissance #ring #jewellery #antique #emerald #enamel #SolitaireRing #HighJewelleryDream #lesenluminures https://www.instagram.com/p/CCQaFCBq-jj/?igshid=1u5yjcwmux4cc