Marcasite and Mother of Pearl Dress Ring
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A dress ring, marcasite and Mother of pearl on silver. Size I. Weight 6grams
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- Mother-Of-Pearl - Mother-of-pearl, technical name "nacre", is the inner layer of a sea shell. The iridescent colours and strength of this material were widely used in the nineteenth century as an inlay in jewellery, furniture, (especially papier mache furniture) and musical instruments.
In the early 1900s it was used to make pearl buttons. Mother-of-pearl is a soft material that is easily cut or engraved.
Nowadays it is a by-product of the oyster, freshwater pearl mussel and abalone industries. - Marcasite - Marcasite is a mineral, iron sulphide, but is rarely used in jewellery. Instead marcasite is the name given to iron pyrites, the mineral sold as marcasite which is identical in copmosition to iron sulphide but crystalises as a cube, making it more suitable for jewellery. It is a brassy yellow in colour and is also known as "fool's gold", and sits well with silver rather than gold becasue of its colour.
Marcasite has been used in jewellery since ancient times and became popular again in jewellery in the 18th century, continuing through to the early 20th century, with the settings becoming cheaper as time progressed, eventually earning the sobriquet "costume jewellery" along with other cheap jewellery that was made for a prevailing pattern and meant to be changed with each new outfit.
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