Kashmir sapphire and diamond three stone ring. Set to centre with a square step cut natural unenhanced Kashmir sapphire in an open back claw setting with an approximate weight of 0.66 carats, flanked by two round old cut diamonds in open back claw settings with a combined approximate weight of 0.45 carats, to an elegant three stone ring featuring curving claws, an intricately pierced gallery and open backholing, leading to raised shoulders with chenier details and flowing through to a solid D-shape shank. Marked 18 carat yellow gold and tested platinum, circa 1915, accompanied by Edelsteiinbefundbericht report #031946, SSEF report #137022

Kashmir sapphires are most famous for their colour which is unlike any other sapphire. It is described as an intense cornflower or cobalt blue with a fine velvety, milky softness. In 1881 a landslide exposed a remote snow-covered area in the Zanskar mountain range of the north-western Himalayas, Kashmir. The physical mining of these sapphires was incredibly difficult due to the harsh climate combined with the mountainous landscape.

Within just six years, the old Kashmir sapphire mine was exhausted. Incredibly, all of the fine Kashmir sapphires in existence were mined between 1881 and 1887. Even today, these stones remain the exemplar by which other sapphires are compared. To own a fine natural unenhanced Kashmir sapphire is to have a truly astonishing gemstone of immense rarity.

This ring is in excellent condition.