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| Pendant France 1854 coral relief-cameo of Bacchus by François-Désiré Froment-Maurice set in gold and silver with pearls and diamonds Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| Pendant Italy late 16th-century carved coral set with enameled-gold Crucifixion scene Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
"Aelinus saith, that there was an Elephant in Egypt which was in love with a woman that sold Corals."
– from The Historie of Foure-footed Beastes (London, 1607) by Edward Topsell, cited in the Oxford English Dictionary
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| Amulet Italy ca. 1600 carved coral amulet mounted in enameled-gold filigree Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| Amulet Spain 19th century seed of the Sea Bean mounted in silver with coral bead Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| Amulet Germany ca. 1800-1850 natural white coral with silver mount Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| Brooch Western Europe ca. 1875-1900 opal set in gold, surrounded by green garnets, diamonds Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
"In the Opal you shal see the burning fire of the Carbuncle or Ruby, the glorious purple of the Amethyst, the greene sea of the Emeraud, and all glittering together."
– from Pliny's Historie of the World, commonly called the Natural Historie (London, 1601) translated by Philemon Holland, cited in the Oxford English Dictionary
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| Pendant England 1890s opal set in gold surrounded by diamonds Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| Pendant France ca. 1900 enameled-gold with opals, emeralds, diamonds by Lucien Gautrait Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| Necklace England ca. 1902 gold, pearls, opals by Archibald Knox Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| Pendant England ca. 1920 silver wire, opals, glass by Georgie Gaskin Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
"Arthur and Georgie Gaskin were a husband and wife team known for their Arts and Crafts style jewelry. They had both studied at the Birmingham School of Art and went on to establish a workshop which was admired for producing elegant, hand-made pieces in a city geared to the machine-production of jewelry on an industrial scale. Describing how they worked, Georgie wrote, 'I did all the designing & he did all the enamel, and we both executed the work with our assistants.'"
– curator's notes from the Victoria & Albert Museum
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| Pendant England ca. 1920 silver wire, opals, pink tourmalines, glass by Georgie Gaskin Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| Brooch England ca. 1922 silver wire, opals, glass by Georgie Gaskin Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| Pair of Dragons China 19th century carved opal on wooden stand Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| Brooch-Pendant England 1969 gold, diamonds, fire-opals by John Donald Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
I am grateful to the Victoria & Albert Museum in London for the excellent images.