Blue Topaz and Green Tourmaline “Candy” Ring, Verdura

Unique Elements
Originally made in 1942, the Candy Ring is one of Verdura’s earliest and most popular designs.

Blue Topaz The name Topaz can be traced back to the Sanskrit word topas or “fire.” Topaz come in colors including brown, blue, green, yellow, orange, red, pink, and purple as well as colorless. Natural blue topaz is very rare and is caused by atomic element changes in the crystal structure of the stone itself. Colorless topaz is widely available and can be treated to give it a blue color. Topaz is a November birthstone.

Green Tourmaline Tourmalines come in a wide range of colors, from red, pinks and peach to green, yellow and blues. Emerald Green tourmaline is rare and was mistaken for emerald as recently as the 18th century. Unlike natural emeralds, which typically feature many inclusions, green tourmalines can be found with few natural flaws. Tourmaline is an October birthstone, as well as the 8th wedding anniversary stone.

Cocktail Ring A large ring worn on any finger other than the left ring finger can be called a cocktail ring. The history of the cocktail ring goes back to the American prohibition era of the 1920s. During this time, alcoholic beverages were banned, leading to the rise of illegal drinking establishments called speakeasies where for the first time, women were also in attendance. These art deco era women would drink glamorous cocktails in their best outfits which included oversized gemstone rings to flash while raising their glasses. Cocktail rings can feature any large stone, from diamond, sapphire, pearl and emerald to tourmaline, aquamarine or citrine. Others feature smaller stones set together to form flowers or animals such as panthers or tigers.

Cabochon A cabochon is a gem which has been shaped and polished but not faceted, typically with a domed top and flat bottom. Cabochons are often cut for opaque stones, for softer translucent gems as well as to highlight phenomenon such as asterism “star” and chatoyancy “cat’s eye”, as these would not show in faceted stones. The 'sugarloaf' cabochon cut features a 4-sided pyramid shape.

White Gold White Gold use in jewelry is first associated with Art Deco, as yellow gold was out of fashion and it is an alternative to platinum, which had become increasingly more expensive after 1915. 18K gold is softer than platinum but has more than enough strength for everyday wear in fine jewelry, particularly in earrings, bracelets and necklaces.

Verdura Founded by Duke Fulco di Verdura in New York in 1939 with the backing of Vincent Astor and Cole Porter, the house of Verdura created gems featured in the Hitchcock film Suspicion, collaborated on a collection with Salvador Dali, and outfitted Vogue editor Diana Vreeland, Princess Diana and Greta Garbo, among many others.