Chinese Art Deco Diamond Ring Antique
20k five stone diamond ring set with old cut diamonds weighing around 0.65ctw.
This is a Straits Chinese ring from this region, made at a period just before the mid-century era. It is an astutely worked, rare piece.
With a telltale East West flavour, this forms its Art Deco style, its sentiment somewhat like table top screens in a Chinoiserie or Japonaise room.
The diamonds are set in a shared bezel, its ‘filigree’ is actually deep etchings of scrollwork, seen more prominently at the profile.
A feature of Straits Chinese rings is how their gemstones are regularly set high. In this piece, the diamonds are not only set high, but the whole face of the ring is ‘lifted’. The ring almost feels like a keyring.
The old cut diamonds in this ring are very, very white. Against the high karat gold, the dazzle of just five diamonds appear to outshine their gold borders.
This is due to its fine craftsmanship, the gold work solid in a delicate form. Old cut diamonds, be they in this region or in the West, cannot be justified based on their fire (ie. not cut for brilliance). However, the diamonds in this ring are exceptional.
Outside its fire, what I find most appealing is how this ring is set to make a gallery of its diamonds. You cannot really see the gold looking directly at the ring from the front. You noticed the gold only when looking at an angle, at the ring’s profile.
For a Chinese ‘Art Deco’ style, the pieces that emerge are rarely as fine as this.