Jewellery, Watches and Objects of Vertu

An early Victorian diamond set ring, the central old brilliant-cut diamond pinched collet set between foliate shoulders set with further small brilliant-cut diamonds, mounted in yellow gold, ring size O½. £800-1000

This ring was formerly the property of Stella Mary Newton, (1901-2001), an English fashion designer, dress historian and writer, who bought the history of fashion to bear on the dating of historical works of art, her expertise leading to the re-dating of internationally known paintings. She worked as an adviser to the National Gallery between 1952 and 1961, and in 1965 she founded a new postgraduate course in the History of Dress at the Courtauld Institute of Art. In 1976 she received an OBE.