Circa 1940 Retro Diamond & Lab-Grown Ruby Earrings

Dating to circa 1940, these 18KT yellow gold and platinum Retro earrings combine sweeping gold curves with sharply geometric diamond-set platinum elements. Each earring is accented with fourteen European and single-cut diamonds, bead-set in platinum and finished with fine milgrain edging. The diamonds weigh approximately .78 carats in total, with SI2-I1 clarity and G-H color. Four baguette-cut lab-grown rubies, totaling approximately .64 carats, punctuate the ends of the yellow gold ribbons. 

The jeweler uses different materials and gemstone cuts to organize the design. The diamonds define the crisp, angular platinum forms, while the baguette rubies act like bright red punctuation marks at the ends of the gold ribbons. 

Lab-grown rubies are entirely at home in a jewel of this period. Synthetic corundum had been commercially available for decades by the 1940s and was deliberately used in fine jewelry for its intense, consistent color. The matching rubies allow the designer to repeat the same saturated red accents throughout a highly structured composition. The material is modern for its time, and the jeweler uses that modernity as part of the design.

Appraised Value:  $4,800