19th-century Heart-shaped Ring Made Of Gold And Silver, With A Sapphire And Diamonds.

Heart-shaped sapphire in a closed setting; ten old-cut brilliant diamonds; two round sapphires on the shoulders.
750‰ gold and 800‰ silver
TDD 57 (adjustable) - Weight 3.5 g.
19th century.

Heart-shaped ring with a silver head set on gold: at the center, a deep blue heart-shaped sapphire in a closed setting, surrounded by ten old-cut brilliant-cut diamonds set in prongs that follow the outline of the heart. The shoulders, engraved with a textured pattern, each feature a small round sapphire in a closed setting; the band is made of yellow gold.
The construction—diamonds on silver, gold body—is characteristic of fine jewelry prior to the advent of platinum around 1900.

Historical Context
The 19th-century sentiment ring, the heart-shaped setting is part of the long tradition of the love ring, from the wedding rings and heart rings of the 15th and 16th centuries to the sentiment jewelry of the Georgian and Victorian eras. In the 19th century, the encircled heart—a colored gemstone set within a border of diamonds—became one of the most common designs for engagement or gift rings, in both France and England. 

Iconography and Symbolism
The heart as a cut-out emblem of love is a medieval invention: it first appeared in the *Roman de la Poire* around 1250, where the lover offers his heart to his lady, and in the 15th century became the universal symbol it remains today. The sapphire is the stone of the sky and of fidelity—medieval lapidaries, beginning with Marbode of Rennes, designated it the gem of constancy and truth, hence the English phrase “true blue.”