A SAPPHIRE, DIAMOND AND MOONSTONE YELLOW GOLD COCKTAIL RING BY PALTSCHO

Austria, Erwin Paltscho, after 1930, one Austrian hallmark

The large center stone in highly raised cabochon cut and with its typical 'moon' iridescence, elegantly surrounded by a row of 11 deep blue sapphires in prong settings, weighing a total of approximately 2 carats, and a second row of small diamonds, weighing a total of approximately 0.15 carats, in a 14 carat gold mounting with vertical high-relief wave-lines, a design trademark of the House of Paltscho.
The House of Paltscho was founded in Vienna, Austria, in 1899 by Ernst Paltscho who had trained under his father Karl. He soon established himself and began attracting the attention of a diverse group of clients including Austro-Hungarian aristocracy and the Greek Royal household. Ernst's son Erwin joined his father in the business in 1918 and after Ernst's death in 1929, Erwin carried on the business alone. The company produced finely crafted pieces of jewelry that were influenced by the aesthetics of the Art Deco period and were frequently inspired by the natural world. Motifs including flowers, leaves and fruit were beautifully carved in a veritable rainbow of colorful hardstones as well as being painted into reverse carved rock crystal before being set in gold. Moon stones, tiger's eye, amethysts, sapphires, pale pink rose quartz and bright red corals all lent their hues to a stylish array of bracelets, brooches, earrings and rings. Erwin Paltscho was regarded as a designer at the very vanguard of Austrian artistic style and development of the period.

Shape: Ring size 54 (EU)
Weight: 19 grams
Condition: Good with some wear and minor flakes to the gold
Insurance value: This ring was recently appraised with an insurance replacement value of 16.000,- Euro; the original certificate will be handed to the winning bidder
Provenance: Austrian private collection