Stories from the Auction Hunt

Bohemian garnets and an Easter egg

The meeting with one of our regular clients began far from the garnets for which she would later become known to us: an enamelled, egg-shaped pendant from the Russian jewellery house Russkije Samotsvety, founded in 1912 in Saint Petersburg and known for its enamelled Easter eggs in the spirit of Fabergé. A tribute to the Orthodox Easter tradition, and an unexpected beginning to a collaboration.

From that point, the conversation developed further, and she told us about her long-standing love of Bohemian garnets and jewellery with Christian symbolism.

The budget was limited, but the requirements were clear: good preservation, well-chosen stones and an honest, carefully considered design, even within a modest amount.

We found several options for her, including a gilded silver bracelet with garnets in a tennis style.

Another find was a necklace combining pearls and a garnet strand, fastened with a modern silver clasp by a well-known German maker.

The client is very pleased with her acquisitions, and the collaboration continues. Aegis Atreifs looks forward to more requests of the same kind.

Swedish military rings and a growing collection

While working on different parts of the collection, several pieces of jewellery with military associations have appeared, which is hardly surprising: in post-war Sweden, many jewellers produced commemorative and training rings for different branches of the armed forces.

One of the first was a “Flygsignalist” training ring in 830/1000 silver with gilding, made around 1964 by the jeweller Gunnar Nilsson, with the GGN mark, in Halmstad.

The ring formed part of a small set together with the bracelet “Svenskt Flygvapnet Minne” by Sporrong, a 19 cm brass chain bracelet with medallions in blue hot enamel, each medallion stamped with the Swedish Air Force symbol, three crowns with wings, against a blue background.

A collector immediately took an interest in the ring and bought it with pleasure. During the conversation, he told us about his own growing collection of Swedish military rings, and we agreed to get in touch when new finds appeared. Recently, six silver rings with military themes were found at the same time. All six were purchased directly.

Among them was the Artillery Regiment ring from 1955 in 830 silver, made by Lagerströms Fabriks Aktiebolag, LFA, in Mjölby.

The other rings include one made by KIRSCH in 1940, a commemorative ring with infantry symbolism, one made by Elfström & Johansson in 1939, a commemorative naval ring, a ring marked Intendenturkåren/Trupperna from 1933 and a regimental ring for Dalregementet, I13, from 1919, made by Carl Ullner.

Since then, Aegis Atreifs has begun to study other types of training rings as well: engineering rings, forester rings, medical rings and more. The work includes research in archival material concerning Swedish royal and military institutions and their symbolism, together with studies of Swedish goldsmiths’ workshops from the late nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century.

Three generations of garnet, one Christmas gift

A client was looking for a Christmas gift for her daughters and became interested in a small set of three garnet rings. The largest ring came from the jeweller Heribert Engelbert, while the two others were made in a modern garnet style in gilded silver.

What caught her interest was the quality of the stones, but just as much the jewellery’s ability to carry a piece of history forward: a workshop, a style, a craft from the mid-twentieth century.