French Art Nouveau gold figural ring with a 4.2 carat Ceylon sapphire

Is Victorian Jewellery Valuable? A Dealer's Guide to What It's Worth

By Ravensbury AntiquesOct 22, 2026

Yes, and the best of it is rising fast. But Victorian jewellery covers more than sixty years and an enormous range, so a piece can be worth £300 or £300,000. Here is how we judge the difference, what to watch out for, and why we think it is one of the most rewarding periods to collect.

The most emotional period in jewellery

Victorian jewellery, made during Queen Victoria's reign from 1837 to 1901, is the most varied of all the antique periods, and the most sentimental. Almost every piece meant something. Motifs carried messages, stones were chosen for what they represented, and in acrostic jewellery the first letters of the gems spelled out a word such as REGARD or DEAREST. Jewellery was given in love, worn in mourning and kept in remembrance.

Heraldry mattered too. Practically every Victorian gentleman wore a signet ring, engraved with a coat of arms if he had one, or with a crest, monogram or initials if he did not. Read more in our guide to antique signet rings and our guide to the symbols in antique jewellery.

Victorian 18ct gold banded agate signet ring, about 1870 — Banded agate, one of the great Victorian stones: an English signet of about 1870, and a Paris locket of about 1880 set with bull's-eye agates.

French Victorian gold locket set with bull's-eye agate, about 1880 — Banded agate, one of the great Victorian stones: an English signet of about 1870, and a Paris locket of about 1880 set with bull's-eye agates.

Early versus late Victorian

Through the 1840s to the 1870s, much jewellery was made to order and is completely individual: whimsical, sometimes bizarre, and entirely handmade. Women's jewellery came in complete boxed parures of rare gemstones, and many pieces kept the irregular charm of the Georgian period, with foiled settings and hand-cut cushion, old mine and rose cut stones. Revival styles ran alongside: Etruscan, Gothic and Renaissance.

In the last twenty years or so of the reign, industrial workshops in Birmingham, Chester, Sheffield and London began to issue catalogues, and certain designs appear again and again: the gypsy ring, the five and seven stone half hoop, the snake ring. They are still lovely rings, but they are not rare. At the very end of the century the period overlaps with Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau, which, in our view, produced the greatest jewellery ever made.

French Art Nouveau gold figural ring with a 4.2 carat unheated Ceylon sapphire, about 1900 — A French Art Nouveau ring of about 1900, with figural nymphs either side of a 4.2 carat unheated Ceylon sapphire. One of the best finds we have had.

What makes one piece worth £300 and another £30,000?

In order of importance, these are the three things we look at first.

The stones. A great gem lifts even a simple ring into another league. Sapphires from Kashmir, found after a landslide in the Himalayas in the early 1880s and mined for only a few years, are the finest ever found. A good Kashmir sapphire of a few carats can sell for six figures even in a plain setting.
The maker. Signed work by the great names of the late 19th century, such as René Lalique and Georges Fouquet in Paris or Masriera in Barcelona, can easily reach £30,000 and more.
Rarity of design. An unusual design with only a handful of museum parallels can be extremely valuable without important stones or a signature. Victorian crescent moon brooches with fine diamonds are a good example, much as Georgian giardinetti rings are for the century before.

Condition matters throughout. Some stones prized by the Victorians, such as banded agate, carnelian, bloodstone and lapis lazuli, carry less weight in the market today, which makes them some of the best value in antique jewellery. Banded agate in particular is, we think, one of the most underrated gemstones there is.

Victorian diamond crescent moon brooch, about 1890 — Rarity in two forms: a crescent moon brooch of about 1890 with 2.5 carats of old cushion cut diamonds, and a carved opal cameo ring attributed to Wilhelm Schmidt, the master opal carver of the late 19th century.

Late Victorian carved boulder opal cameo ring attributed to Wilhelm Schmidt — Rarity in two forms: a crescent moon brooch of about 1890 with 2.5 carats of old cushion cut diamonds, and a carved opal cameo ring attributed to Wilhelm Schmidt, the master opal carver of the late 19th century.

The mistake buyers make

The most common mistake is buying something because it looks like good value. "If you buy a piece because you think it's a steal, you'll be bored of it within a week and never wear it," says our founder, Callum. "Buy at the top of your budget, something you truly love." There is a rule of thumb in the antiques trade: the rarer and more expensive a piece is, the faster it tends to appreciate, because the top of the market moves first. The best Victorian jewellery is going through the roof, and with so much still being passed down from great-grandparents, new collectors keep arriving.

Reproductions and how to spot them

Victorian jewellery is rarely faked outright, but there are plenty of later pieces made in the Victorian style. Two catch people out most often, and every dealer has been caught at least once.

Five and seven stone half hoop rings. Original Victorian half hoops typically sell for around £2,000 to £3,000, but there was a fashion for copies in the 1970s and 80s. English copies will usually be hallmarked with a date letter that gives them away.
Albert chains. These heavy gold curb chains with a T-bar and dog clips were made as pocket watch chains and are hugely popular today. Copies from the 1970s to 90s are lighter and less dense. On many originals, every single link is struck with a mark, while copies often carry a date letter for the 1960s or later on the T-bar.

Victorian 9ct rose gold Albert chain, Birmingham, about 1900 — A genuine Victorian Albert chain, Birmingham, about 1900, with every link struck with British hallmarks.

Our advice is simple: buy a 10x jeweller's loupe, which costs very little, and look at the hallmarks. If you are buying from us online, ask for close-ups and we will photograph the marks and explain exactly what they mean.

Why so much of the best is French

"I'm English, and I'll still say it: the French jewellers of the 19th century were probably better on average," says Callum. While English buyers were increasingly choosing a shape and a gem from a workshop catalogue, French jewellery stayed more bespoke for longer, and the design was more adventurous. That is why we buy so much in France, as well as in Italy and the Netherlands, though an exceptional English piece will always tempt us.

Can you wear it every day?

Often, yes. Victorian jewellery was generally built to last. Gold was cheaper relative to labour, so pieces are heavier and more solid than their modern equivalents. The strongest chains we handle are Victorian, clasps are secure, and a Victorian signet ring will outlive all of us.

Best for daily wear: low, flat designs with rub-over or bezel settings, which slip in and out of a pocket without catching.
Keep for occasions: tall claw settings, and anything with foiled stones in closed settings, which should never get wet.

See our ring sizing guide for advice on resizing.