Antique Victorian Enamel & Cut Steel Earrings 14k $1NR

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We'd like to thank all of the folks who've been so generous with their compliments and positive feedback . We work hard to be worthy of our 100% rating and always try to provide 5 star service...so we hold the lightening fast priority shipping to actual cost with no handling fees and are pleased to offer free U.S. shipping of these earrings if they end over $100 . This auction is for a striking pair of late Victorian era cut steel earrings The wee, diamond shaped earring face has a fabulous design that is embossed and beaded in the style of a Gothic cross. Like pieced and leaded glass, they glow with the rich red of kiln fired enamel and glitter with studded cut steel "gems". It's a shame that they ever stopped using cut steels; they offer a such a wonderful glimmer to the earrings. "Cut steel" jewelry had it's first hurrah in the 1780's when an enterprising English fellow discovered that if you formed steel into gem shapes and highly polished them, they had a twinkle that rivaled the best of diamonds. He, and others of the time, made whole suites of jewelry, buckles and most popularly, buttons. Our earrings started life as clothing buttons made circa 1890....yes, antique buttons! Ladies of the 1860's and '70's wore gowns which simply had less decoration but by the 1880's, dresses used much fancier fabrics and decorative trims. We've pictured a Victorian era gal wearing her fancy cut steel buttons on a gown that is probably very similar to the one that our buttons once decorated and wearing a pair of earrings with a style remarkably like the ones we offer here. The last shots are of a close up of a church window and of the gothic Kylemore Church in Ireland. Look close at those windows and you'll see they have an very similar design to our earrings. So, the earring "face" is gold gilded, enamel and steel studs with the vintage style ear wires being new, solid 14k yellow gold. The earring are so much smaller than those we often list, the face measuring a feminine 13.4mm long and wide, hanging just one inch long in the ear from top to bottom. They weigh 2.0 total grams, whisper light for comfortable all day wear. The earrings are in excellent, ready to wear condition with all the enamel intact. We are professional jewelers with an eye tuned to see beauty...and we see it every where, even in a ornament as humble as an antique clothing button! We're tired of our fine jewelry clients asking for something "unique" and picking the same thing that everyone else has...apparently, a lot of YOU feel the same way because over the last four plus years we have successfully made and auctioned so many, many pairs of fabulous earrings. Every pair of our earrings are signed with a "A" in a diamond shape...we stand behind our work and the "Ace of Diamond" trademark is the proof. After opening the thread loops to act as "catchers" we attach solid 14k gold ear wires using our laser welder. The welder literally uses a laser beam to perfectly fuse the metals together; no sloppy solders or ruinous torch flame. We always use solid 14k so you have "good" gold for your ears...we don't want less, why would you? Some gals have been nervous about wearing the shepherd hook wires but are always relieved the find that the catchers make them very secure. No more fumbling with (and losing!) little ear nuts...that and the wires give the earrings a saucy, eye catching swing. We love the striking style and beautiful color of these earrings...we can't help wonder what type of dress these buttons decorated. The finest gowns will soil and fade but someone treasured their beautiful dress enough to save these buttons as a keepsake. For this we are so very grateful because they make a truly captivating pair of earrings. If these are YOUR earrings, don't hesitate and bid now, they are the only pair we have. For our international bidders: We get such a thrill knowing that we have successfully shipped to England, France, Holland, Italy, Germany, American Somoa, Japan and China...even to Tuktoyatuk, Canada wh... read more

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