Pair of Unique Antique Victorian Cut Steel & Mother-of-Pearl Earrings

Description

Pair of Antique Cut Steel & Mother-of-Pearl Earrings
Circa. 1900                    United Kingdom
A unique pair of antique mother-of-pearl earrings with cut steel bows         Mother-of-pearl leaf has an etched oblong center that was hand-colored.   One hand colored leaf is slightly lighter in color  than the other   This  gives the pair a more unique appearance    These are definitely one-of-a-kind!    Completely hand-made.   We had our jeweler replace the damaged ear wires with new sterling silver wires    The cut steel sparkles, but could not be captured by the camera
Cut steel was popular during the Georgian & Victorian eras throughout Europe     Cut steel earrings were produced in the United Kingdom, France, and Austria   Production was very labor intensive;  it would take several weeks to produce a singular pair of earrings.   First, a form had to be made for the cut steel area and holes created in that form to receive the individual cut steel rivets.  The cut steel earring was seen to be a viable replacement for the more expensive diamond earring, due to its superb craftsmanship and reflective qualities of the cut steel
This pair also has mother-of-pearl, another favorite material used in the production of antique jewelry    Each of the two mother-of-pearl drops have  been hand-colored and not colored exactly the same!   This adds a certain quality to the pair!  Unique and quite wonderful, it's great that the earrings survived to the 21st century!
Each earring measures 3 inches long with ear wire    2 inches wide, at their widest      Total weight is 24.2 g. for the pair
In excellent condition