Gemstone mystery jars

One jar, the top of the book. Gemstone Grand is €149 for 30 pieces and, unlike the rest of the range, every one of them is a set stone or a ring — the categories are on the list of what the jar contains, so they are in every jar of that line.

What is inside

Set stones in prong and closed settings, rings, and the pieces from a lot that took the longest to value. Expect marcasite, foil-backed rhinestone from the mid-century, garnet and paste, alongside period silver settings.

Stones and honesty

These are vintage costume and estate pieces: stones are glass, paste, marcasite and semi-precious. Where a piece carries a stone we cannot identify with certainty, it is described as the cheaper possibility. We would rather undersell a stone than name one we cannot prove.

Handle the settings gently

Foil-backed stones from this period die permanently if water gets behind them. Clean around them dry. If a jar arrives with a stone loose in the bottom — it happens, they are eighty years old — photograph it and write to us.