Mastery of Design: The Townsend Pearl and Pear Diamond Ring

The Townsend  Pearl
The Victoria & Albert Museum

We conclude a day of sparkly things with a ring which features a resplendent pearl in a gold mount, flanked by two exceptional pear-shaped, brilliant-cut diamonds.

This ring forms part of a collection of 154 gems bequeathed to the V&A by the Reverend Chauncy Hare Townshend, a cleric and poet, whose fantastic assortment of rare gems we’ve looked at on several previous occasions. Sir A. H. Church (who added additional specimens to Townsend’s collection in 1913) compiled the first catalogue of the collection, “Precious Stones: A Guide to the Townshend Collection,” in 1883.

This exquisite pearl, like the other stones in the collection, was mounted in this ring for purposes of display and was never intended to be worn. The flanking pear-shaped diamonds are of the finest quality and were also a part of Townsend’s collection.