CURIOS IN JEWELLRY.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XI, Issue 46, 18 November 1893, Page 428

CURIOS IN JEWELLRY.

RINGS MADE TO ORDER—TWIN LOCKETS—INTERNATIONAL LOVE TOKENS. * Do you have many orders for making engagement or other rings from special designs!' was asked a leading jeweller not long ago.

‘ No, very seldom,’ was the reply. ‘lt is an expensive notion and unless the designer understands such things it is not apt to be satisfactory.’ Nevertheless there is a pleasure in having odd jewellry, and for the cost of a diamond it is possible to procure an odd ring which shall be a delight all one's life and a valuable heirloom for one’s children. I know of two such ; one an engagement ring and the other the symbol of renunciation—a foregone engagement. The first is of Etruscan gold, the ring formed of three strands of rope and across the back is laid a tiny anchor, on either side of which is a pearl. It was the fancy of a young girl who met her lover by the sea, and whose courtship was inseparably connected with nautical scenes. To the suggestion that diamonds should be substituted for the pearls she replied, * No, pearls are more appropriate, for they are of the sea. ’ The other ring is a golden serpent, whose head is caught beneath a cross. Shall I tell the story! It was of a true love thwarted by a conscientious difference of creed. ‘ The girl is living, unmarried, ’tis said. Perhaps she is single for his dear sake.' ‘The cross triumphed, you see,* she said, with a sad, sweet smile when she showed me the ring. These special rings remind me of a pretty custom that was fashionable in England some score of years ago, and may be still, for aught I know. It was for a jeweller to have designs made for a locket, only two of which were manufactured, and then the design was destroyed. These two lockets were sold, one for a boy baby, the other for a girl, and—well, you may weave any little romance you choose about the idea. I have a strong suspicion myself that some marriage which may have resulted from the discovery of the ownership of twin lockets —those between cousins, for instance, might have taken place without the jewels. Or perhaps foresight on the part of relatives aided the wooing. In short, as Mr Micawber might say, there are cases of * assisted fate.’ Speaking of lockets reminds ine of one designed for an international love token. It was formed of two coins, the reverse of a St. George sovereign and an American fivedollar piece which were set in a wheel, the spokes of which were diamonds. It made a charming pendant for a watch chain.

A love-smitten gentleman, after conversing awhile with a lady on the interesting topic of matiimony, concluded at last with the emphatic question : ‘ Will you have me !’ ‘ I am very sorry to disapppoint you,’ replied the lady, ‘ and hope my refusal will not give you pain ; but I must answer “No.”’ ‘ Well, well, that will do,’said her philosophical lover ; * and now suppose we change the subject.’