Mastery of Design: The Diamond Circle Pendant, 1860

Pendant
Silver, Diamonds
English, 1860
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Silver set with gorgeous European-cut diamonds this pendant would have been made for an upper-class lady for use as an evening accessory. Diamond jewels such as this were the stuff of evening dress only and were often worn with an assortment of other similarly styled jewels.
In the late Nineteenth Century, Mary of Teck (later Queen Mary). was often celebrated for her creative arrangements of jewels, covering her gowns with as many as possible—a trait she inherited from her mother, Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge. Of Princess May it was often said that she could wear more jewels than anyone else without looking weighted-down or overwrought.

A pendant such as this one would have been accompanied by a matching necklace, several brooches, pins or stars, a tiara, numerous bracelets and an assortment of rings.