Mourning jewelry was never just decorative—it served a purpose, marking the passing of a loved one with symbolism, sentiment, and often remarkable craftsmanship. Many were custom-made pieces, and the materials themselves—like woven hair, jet, banded black onyx, enamel, seed pearls, or bloodstone—were carefully chosen for their meaning.
At Hansons’ Derbyshire Summer Fine Art, Silver, Jewellery and Watches Auction, four such items stood out: a rare royal mourning ring commissioned by the future King George IV, an 18th-century ring set with natural onyx, a brooch containing hair and seed pearls, and a gold fob set with bloodstone—each offering clues not just to the person remembered, but to the time in which they lived.
Rare royal mourning ring commissioned by the future King George IV
Of Royal Interest – Princess Amelia mourning ring, a 19th century enameled gold ring, an oval shallow dome highlighting an enameled coronet over a monogram ‘A’ on black ground within a border of white with gold lettering. Inside the gold frame is inscribed “REMEMBER ME.” “AMELIA DIES 2 NOV 1810 AGED 27” is framed in the gold and white enameled shank.
The ring measures approximately 18 mm. There is some enamel loss, wear commensurate with age.
from the catalogue:
– Princess Amelia (1783-1810) – was the fifteenth and youngest child of King George III and Queen Charlotte, and believed to be her father’s favourite. She suffered from illness that would ultimately take her life, knowing that she would from her illness, reports state that she commissioned a ring containing a lock of her hair beneath rock crystal, within a surround of diamonds. Amelia would later place the ring on her fathers finger, uttering the words ‘Remember me’ with her dying breath.
This ring is part of a set of 52 which were commissioned by Amelia’s brother, the Prince Regent (later George IV), to commemorate her life. They were made by Royal goldsmiths Rundell, Bridge and Rundell, and distributed to family and members of the court.
Price Realised: £5500
Prior to auction, this ring had been purchased in a “charity shop” for only £15!
According to the report in The Sun Magazine, “Charles Hanson, owner of Hansons’ Auctioneers, said: ‘It’s the most important charity shop find I’ve heard about in a decade’.”
Other details found in The Sun include:
“They were handed out to close family and friends after her funeral in Windsor.”
“The white enamel used in the ring denotes that Amelia was unmarried at the time of her death, Mr. Hanson said.”
“White enamel symbolised purity and innocence in mourning jewellery, particularly for those who died young or unmarried.”
“It contrasts with the more commonly used black enamel, which signified general mourning.”
To read more on this amazing historical find, Tap Here for the feature story in The Sun.
18th Century Stewart crystal gold and enamel mourning ring
This 18th Century Stewart crystal gold and enamel mourning ring, features a faceted rectangular emerald cut/portrait cut rock crystal quartz. Beneath the gem, the ring is inset with gold wire work featuring a monogram (M?). All of this is framed within an enamel bezel of black, with white dot details. 18-karat gold.
gr – The Rock Crystal Quartz is fashioned with a rather large culet to facilitate viewing whatever is beneath the gem. This style of cutting is often referred to as a portrait cut, but most portrait cuts are rather thin with large flat crowns and large flat pavilions simply to act as a window.
Price Realised: £1700
19th Century pearl and hair mourning gold brooch
This is a 19th Century natural pearl and hair mourning gold brooch, with a center compartment inset with plaited [braided] hair, within a border of half peals. The brooch itself is made of a rose metal, unmarked, but possibly 9 karat gold.
Price Realised: £0 – did not sell
Victorian 9 karat rose gold fancy link chain, with 19th century bloodstone and gold fob
Here we have a Victorian fancy link 9 karat gold chain, length approx. 35.2 cm, with double swivel clasps, weighing approx. 17 gms, along with a 19th century bloodstone and 9 karat gold fob, weighing approx. 5.3 gms.
gr – Bloodstone, a dark green chalcedony (chlorite inclusions; variety-prase) with red splotches (iron oxide inclusions) of the mineral hematite or jasper, is often used as a religious amulet, often with reference to the blood of Jesus dripping onto the green jasper below the cross, making this an obvious choice for mourning jewelry.
Price Realised: £480
Gentleman’s Victorian banded agate and gold ring
A gentleman’s Victorian banded agate and gold ring, comprising a central oval stone, width approx. 13mm, the shoulders with heavy scroll and leaf decoration, unmarked assessed as 15 karat gold, weighing approx. 5.9 gms.
gr – The natural color Black Onyx (a variety of chalcedony) seen here is described above (in the catalogue) simply as banded agate, due to the visible banding, Agate being banded chalcedony. Most consumers assume that black onyx is purely black. But in gemology, black onyx is banded with white – white and black chalcedony (as is the stone above). The black onyx often seen without any white banding has most likely been dyed completely black to hide any color banding, and therefore is considered no longer natural color.
Price Realised: £480
Tap here to see what all Hansons’ had up for auction at this summer sale!
