Splashy Georgian Amethyst Cannetille Brooch c. 1820

Caroline's Jewelry with a Past is offering a Georgian 14kt. bloomed yellow gold amethyst, circa 1820. This piece features a central oval shaped, faceted, deep purple, bezel prong set 20.0 mm wide X 16.4 mm tall X 11.0 mm deep natural amethyst, weighing approximately 18.00 carats. The stone is well saturated for color, clear and nicely faceted with a high dome. The stone is surrounded by cannetille flowers, pyramids, tendrils and ball decoration. The piece is 1-1/2" long X 1" wide. It has a C-clasp style closure. The pin stem is in silver and extendds slightly longer than the brooch. The piece weighs 8.5 grams. It comes in an antique box that is newer than the piece.

Cannetille is similar to filigree work. It consists of fine gold wires twisted into intricate shapes, such as scrolls, coils, rosettes, or tendrils and was often used with granulation techniques. It is sometimes called "wirework". It is almost always used with colorful gemstones in combination or separately, including amethyst, pink topaz, garnet and aquamarine. It was popular in jewelry styles in the 1820's and 1830's. Designs, textures and patterns with wire rope twisting and beading were made using granulation techniques. Granulation was a technique that applied gold to a surface metal using heat, but without the appearance of having been soldered. This design work had been used since ancient times and became popular again during the early to mid 19th. century when the great archaeological explorations were being conducted in Italy, Egypt, Sumeria, Turkey and elsewhere where jewelry was found using this technique.

The gold content of this piece has been tested using standard accepted testing methods, such as acid testing. The amethyst size was calculated using a standard jeweler's caliper. The amethyst was tested using a jeweler's stone tester. The stone was not removed from the piece to do physical testing or for weight.