Realm Art Nouveau Emerald Ring

Fine emerald ring set in 22k and 18k.

The Russian emerald weighs 31.21ct.

Cut long and extremely deep, the stone is a challenge to set.

We must assume its cut is not cut to be ‘wasted’ – to be obscured in a bezel or haloed away.

The job is hardest when sculptural work is involved, even more if we dare venture into the realm of Art Nouveau.

Our predecessors did it best and contemporary efforts are mostly wax carving models.

What can we do in 2025?

Contemplative art offers original design if they begin at the drawing board, illustratively and industriously.

The flora vessel was inspired by Karl Blossfeldt, the deep web back by Ernst Haeckel.

Putting the drawings together to coerce a large stone onto a ring is another thing altogether.

Piece by piece, each branch carved and soldered to allow the vessel to take shape.

The webbed effect serves as a dear cave for our stone, its netlike structure helps us both anchor and reveal as much of the stone as possible – a deep stone can be admired this way.

The mise-en-scène is complete when the hands come on deck, one too wearing its own jewel…

Art Nouveau conceived and built this way is archetypal, a struggle perhaps truer to its insistence on the form of realm.

The gold work animates with fewer diamonds, a mere 0.6ctw but windows to the faeries therein.

The ring spans 28mm by 18mm.