12 Days of Gifts, Day 9

Do you have a queen in your life? We've got just the thing! Cut Steel & Marcasite Jewelry. We've been slowly collecting some really nice examples of this. Cut-steel jewelry is jewelry 'set' with tiny faceted and polished steel studs, fashioned to resemble gemstones and usually riveted in place. The Swiss pioneered this process as early as the 1700's often using cut steel as a substitute for diamonds. Later Marcasite was introduced as it took a higher shine than the steel & didn't rust. These pieces are almost always made with Silver & the craft involved in making them was exceptional. We've got some gorgeous pieces from the Georgian era up to the Deco period.