Antique Victorian earrings Gold cabochon garnets pearls Day Night versatile(7413)

Antique Victorian earrings. Gold, cabochon garnets and small seed pearls. Bought in London, UK. Date to 19th century.

Measurements: Weight is 9.3 grams. Length approximately 1 1/2 inches (4.75cm).

Description : Dangle, hoop earrings. Both elegant and fun, these earrings combine all the best qualities of antique jewelry - from quality of workmanship to great design, eye appeal and versatility. The earrings are made of two parts. Perhaps at some time the bottoms/tops were interchangeable with other earrings. Whatever the original intention, the tops can be worn alone with the bottoms slid off or worn together for a bigger and fuller look.
Surmounts consist of a cone or crown-like tiny dome - much like the onion dome of a Russian church, including the rectangular architectural base - barely visible to the naked eye. Beneath is a horse-shoe of tiny pearls, set in gold with a leaf blowing out below, textured and in a darker, slightly pinker gold tone - perhaps like autumn foliage flying in the wind. The back of the surmount has a long, ribbon loop over which the bottoms are slipped on/off. The bottoms are tubular, of bright yellow gold with ropetwist borders, over which the above descirbed leaf falls. Near the bottom, a pair of wonderful bright, wine-red cabochon garnets, known as carbuncles to the Victorians are set - like berries or winter fruit. The garnets gleam magnificently or fall into shadows, as the light catches them. The hoop-attachment allows a fair amount of movement to the hoops, which adds another element of interest as they swing and sway.
Simple wires, that might be very old replacements are easy to insert and comfortable to wear.
Light and comfortable to wear. Very well made - great quality workmanship and fabulous eye appeal in both the design and the sense of movement.

Marks and Metal: Very tiny, hidden in the curve of the back tubular hoops, are marks 575 (for 14k) and another mark, that is not quite legible. We electronically tested the gold as 14k.

Condition: Good with negligible wear commensurate with age. Please see enlarged pictures and don't hesitate to ask questions which we will do our best to answer.

THE STORY: It's difficult to pin an exact date to these earrings. We see illustrations of very similar designs by Edward Streeter, dating to the 1870's; we see other designs with elements that echo these features, such as the textured gold, that date even earlier. We feel more comfortable dating them to the last quarter of the 19th century. I can easily imagine a painting by the Pre Raphaelites with the model wearing earrings like these.