Bangle in gilt silver and Bohemian garnets

This wonderful bangle in gilt silver 830/1000 and garnets reflects the essence of the Bohemian jewelry of last 19^th– early 20th century.
The almost opalescent sparkle of the garnets in the center and on the pave along the jewel circumference is the result of a specific cut and polish that have been perfected over the centuries and that make the stones gleam today as they just came out from the goldsmith-s workshop.

It was only towards the end of Middle Age that the term granatus first appeared on works of mineralogy when Albertus Magnus compared the red color of garnets to the one of the pomegranate flowers.  
Gerolamo Cardano recalled the concept in 16^th century, confirming in his works that the word granatus was to be derived from pomus granatus, as for the similarity to the red seeds of the fruit.

Bohemian garnet (pyrope) is distinguished by its dark, intense red color, almost tending towards black. Such precious stones, symbol for centuries of the prosperity and craftsmanship of Bohemia, are renowned for their high light refraction and small size.

Exported in Europe and all over the world, Bohemian garnets are most commonly set either on metal or silver gilt because of their refractoriness to gold.  Having them set on this precious material involves in fact specific processing in order to keep stone inside the mount.

Worldwide appreciated Bohemian garnets, despite still being of high quality, are slowly being depleted, pushing jewelers and collectors to search today for antique bijoux.

Our wonderful bangle is complete with its original safety chain.

Bohemia, early 20th century