Regency 18ct Gold Regard Locket Pendant

A superb example of a “REGARD” piece of jewellery. Items such as this one were made in the 18th and 19th centuries, and were given as tokens of esteem to loved ones. The stones spell Regard. RubyOne of the most valuable gemstones on earth. From the corundum family, the red variety being ruby and the blue, sapphire. With the exception of the diamond, corundum is the hardest of the gemstones on the Mohs scale scoring a 9., emeraldOne of the four ‘precious’ stones. An intense, deep green is the most desirable colour for emeralds. Flaws and cloudiness (‘jardin’) are very common in emeralds, so stones are often oiled, irradiated, and dyed to improve their look. Synthetic emeralds have fewer imperfections and are hard to set apart from natural stones. Emeralds belong to the beryl…, garnetDescribes a group of several closely related minerals. Garnets come in a variety of colours, however the most common colour is dark red. In descriptions, ‘garnet’ tends to refer to dark red stones unless otherwise specified., amethystAmethyst is the purple variety of macrocrystalline quartz. From the Greek amethystos meaning ‘a remedy against drunkedness’, it was believed to prevent intoxication and ensure the wearer retains a clear head and quick wit. It was once considered as valuable as ruby, sapphire and emerald., ruby, and diamondA precious, lustrous gemstone made of highly compressed carbon. Diamonds are one of the hardest materials known to mankind. Colours of diamonds range from colourless, yellow, orange and brown to almost black. Natural coloured (or ‘fancy’) diamonds can be extremely rare. The cut, colour, clarity and carat weight of a diamond are the criteria jewellers use…. The gold is 18ct75% pure gold (or 750 parts pure gold and 250 parts other metals) and finely worked with a locket in the centre which may have contained a lock of hair originally.