Symbolic love: Victorian garnet heart-shaped pendant with diamond-encrusted bow

This two-tone pendant with a gold back from the early Victorian era, dating from 1830, embodies a treasure trove of symbols through a dark pink garnet heart, a bow topped with silver, a serpent, a cross, and an anchor inlaid with three European-cut diamonds and a total of 86 rose-cut diamonds set in a leaf.

While the ruby-eyed serpent encircles the cross, its head emerges at the center of the garnet and highlights the opulent heart shape. This meaningful composition reveals the protective, wise, hopeful, and fertile role of the serpent in matters of the heart, deep within the garnet.
This precious stone, a symbol of love, is topped by a cross that extends from behind the garnet to form an anchor, thus creating an anchored cross, also called a sailor's cross. A symbol of hope, this precious image further reinforces the message of promise and faith it conveys.
To perfect this message of hope and tenderness, the above-mentioned piece, with its 14-carat yellow gold back, is suspended from an adorable 18-carat red gold bow, symbolizing the deep bond of love. This bow even allows you to wear this extraordinary jewel as a brooch.
For more information, please see the chapter "Additional Information" below.

It could not be clearer, from the craftsmanship and overall design, that this jewel is not only about promises and fairy tales, but truly succeeds in conveying the message of love.

Object group of antique jewelry: combined brooch-pendant (the pendant can be removed from the bow, so both can also be worn separately).

Condition: excellent condition
- (more info on our condition scale)

Country of origin: unknown (although from the same period, the bow is in silver with 18-carat gold and the pendant is in silver with 14-carat gold)

Style: Early Victorian era - Victorian decorative arts refer to the style of decorative arts from the Victorian era. This period is known for its eclectic revival and reinterpretation of historical styles, as well as the introduction of intercultural influences from the Middle East and Asia into furniture, accessories, and interior decoration. Victorian design is widely perceived as having shown a regrettable excess of ornamentation. The Arts and Crafts movement, the Aesthetic movement, the Anglo-Japanese style, and Art Nouveau all have their origins in the late Victorian period.
- See also: early Victorian era or more information on styles

Style specifics: The Romantic Victorian Period - Experts divide the reign of Queen Victoria, also called the Victorian era (1837 - 1901), into three periods of about twenty years each; the Romantic Victorian period (1837 - 1860), the High Victorian period (1860 - 1880), and the Late or Aesthetic Victorian period (1880 - 1901).

We consider this period to belong to the Romantic Victorian period. This period covers the coronation of Victoria as Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, her marriage to King Albert, their love and devotion to their marriage and their country, which were sources of inspiration. The jewelry from this period is made with intricate carvings, special techniques where enamel is subtly worked. These techniques allowed the jewelry to have a certain opulence with less precious metal. Precious metals were very rare at that time. The most prized (semi-)precious stones of this era are amethyst, coral, garnet, cultured pearls, and turquoise. The connotation is obviously sentimental, symbolic, and romantic, with motifs reminiscent of the Gothic and/or Renaissance style, and an abundant use of motifs such as anchors, birds, branches, crosses, hearts, and snakes.

Period: circa 1830
- (events and facts from this era, poetry from this era, fashion from this era)

Source of inspiration: Symbolism (for the snake and the anchor)

Theme: snake, anchor, and bow

Material: silver on the top and supported by 18-carat red gold (on the bow) and 14-carat yellow gold (on the anchor) (see explanation about silver on gold).
- (more info about precious metals)

Technique: Rose-cut diamonds and cabochon garnet are set on foil. This special technique was used to enhance the brilliance of the diamonds.

Additional information: Anchor – In heraldry, the anchor frequently appears on the flags and coats of arms of maritime institutions, both naval and commercial, as well as port cities and the coastal regions and provinces of various countries. The “Anchored Cross,” or Mariner’s Cross, a stylized cross in the shape of an anchor, is also found in heraldry. This symbol may be used to signify “new beginning” or “hope.” The New Testament describes the Christian’s hope as the “anchor of the soul” (Hebrews 6:19). In 1887, the Delta Gamma Fraternity adopted the anchor as its badge to symbolize hope. (according to Wikipedia).

Snakes and serpents – Serpent is a word of Latin origin (from serpens, serpentis “something that crawls, serpent,” derived from the Greek word “erpo” and “erpeto,” to crawl and serpent) that is commonly used in a specifically mythical or religious context, meaning a serpent that should not be regarded as a mere natural phenomenon nor as an object of scientific zoology, but as the bearer of a powerful symbolic value.

The serpent is one of the oldest and most widespread mythological symbols. The symbolic values it represents overlap considerably in various cultures. Some of these overlaps can be explained by the common historical ancestry of contemporary symbols. However, much of this overlap is explained by the common biological characteristics of snakes.

In some cases, snakes serve as positive symbols, with which it is possible to identify or sympathize; in other cases, they serve as negative symbols, representing adversaries or antagonists of figures or principles with which one might identify. Snakes also appear as ambivalent figures, neither entirely positive nor entirely negative. An example of a snake used as a positive symbol is Mucalinda, the king of serpents who protected the Buddha from the elements during his meditation. An example of a snake used as a negative symbol is the serpent that tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, as described in the Book of Genesis. (According to: Wikipedia)

Diamond(s): An old European cut diamond (just below the garnet) with an estimated weight of ± 0.32 ct. (color and clarity: H/I, vs/si).
Three old European cut diamonds (one in the upper loop of the pendant and two in the crossbar just above the garnet) with an estimated weight of ± 0.24 ct. (color and clarity: H/J, vs/si).
86 rose-cut diamonds. We do not have the weight of the diamonds, which is common in our trade for rose cuts.
- All diamond weights, color grades, and clarity are approximate, as the stones have not been removed from their settings in order to preserve the integrity of the mounting.

Total diamond weight: approximately 0.56 crt. (excluding the rose-cut diamonds)

Gemstones: A cabochon garnet
Two rubies (for the eyes)

Birthstones: The diamond is the birthstone (or month stone) for April, the garnet for January, and the ruby for July.
- (more information about birthstones)

Hallmarks: Illegible remnants.
- (more information about hallmarks)

Dimensions: total height 6.90 cm (2.72 inches), height with the pendant 5.10 cm (2.01 inches)

Weight: 29.60 grams (19.03 dwt)