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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Bronwen, post: 10428826, member: 5833&quot;]This was well over the <i>de minimis</i> amount (d*mned diamonds!) but in the past it wouldn&#039;t have mattered because it is unquestionably antique &amp; would have been exempt.&nbsp; Have to admit I have become rather obsessed with these, so was irrationally willing to pay stupid money, to a point.&nbsp; There was competition - on line auction format did not allow me to see anything about other bidders - and was holding my breath after my last bid, internally debating whether or not I was willing to go up another 200 GBP to get ahead again.&nbsp; Great relief when final bid went unchallenged.&nbsp; Since it was listed as hardstone, had to wonder whether other bidder(s) actually knew what they were bidding on.</p><p><br /></p><p>Since age didn&#039;t matter to tariff, this was immaterial, but listing had this, correctly, I think, as George III in period, but on customs doc they put &#039;c. 1900&#039;.&nbsp; (Previous regulations distinguished between antiques that are 100+ years old &amp; antiques that are less than 100 years old.&nbsp; Huh?)&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>The stones are mine cut &amp; sparkle nicely, &#039;lively&#039;, as the description said.&nbsp; The construction, with each stone setting hand crafted &amp; all soldered one to another, compares well with other examples to be found on line for &#039;Georgian diamond pendant.&#039;&nbsp; The edges of the diamond section are silver in appearance; only gold on the back.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>The collar immediately surrounding the cameo is gold in color &amp; shows no tarnish/oxidation, so could be the real thing.&nbsp; It is ornate enough that I have to wonder if it wasn&#039;t meant to be seen originally.&nbsp; I conjecture he was gussied up, something like this piece I showed 7 years ago, where a surfeit of garnets was added:</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.antiquers.com/threads/cameos-show-tell-or-ask-answer.23493/page-14#post-354470" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.antiquers.com/threads/cameos-show-tell-or-ask-answer.23493/page-14#post-354470">CAMEOS: Show &amp; Tell or Ask &amp; Answer</a></p><p><br /></p><p>As for the age of the cameo itself, I had to reconsider my original notion, based on the mounts I had seen them in, that this type dated to the turn of the 19th century when this one</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]524810[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>turned up on a presentation item with sufficient information engraved on it to place it, in the auction house&#039;s reckoning, to 1550-65.&nbsp; There is so much consistency to these I feel the time &amp; place of their making must have been fairly limited.&nbsp; Wouldn&#039;t be surprised if the mollusk involved &amp; the way to make best use of it were trade secrets.&nbsp; It is such a superb material for cameos, surprising it is not still in use.&nbsp; The expense of surrounding it with diamonds also suggests that a previous owner believed this little cameo was something special.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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