Jewellery, Watches and Objects of Vertu

An 18ct gold diamond set ring, by John Donald, centred with an oval olive green glass stone in four claw setting, the bifurcated shoulders each inset with an old-cut diamond, (one diamond larger), the shank of pierced open work ‘nugget flake’ design, hallmarked for London, 2002, with signed John Donald green box, ring size O. £800-£1,000

John Donald designed the ring using gemstones provided by the vendor. A copy of a letter from John Donald’s workshops in Cheapside accompanies this lot.


For a description of the technique used in the above ring, see Donald’s autobiography Precious Statements: John Donald designer Jeweller, by John Donald & Russell Cassleton Elliott; published McNidder & Grace, 2015, page 60; “Another experiment of mine was dropping molten gold into a bucket of water. Sometimes this created ‘cornflakes’ which became my ‘nugget flake’”...”when the flakes were removed from the water, they were flattened and soldered together in a panel...”