2nd century A.D. A silver ring with D-shaped hoop, set with an oval glass gemstone incised with confronting busts of the divine twins Castor and Pollux, their hair arranged under a fastening band (taenia), a star above both heads. Cf. Ruseva-Slokoska, L., Roman Jewellery, Sofia, 1991, item 243, for this style of ring; for the Roman gemstone with facing busts, see Chadour, A.B., The Alice and Louis Koch Collection, Volume I, Leeds, 1994, item 348, for type. 6.88 grams, 21.26 mm overall, 16.82 mm internal diameter (approximate size British L, USA 5 3/4, Europe 11.24, Japan 10) (3/4 in."). German art market before 2000. With a European gentleman living in the UK. Property of a Surrey gentleman. The ring belongs to the type II, variant I of the Ruseva-Slokoska classification of the Roman silver rings. The stars above the heads of the famous twins, brothers of Helen of Troy, remain to this day as the symbols of the constellation Gemini.

Fine condition.