Jane Austen's Turquoise Ring

"My dear Caroline," Eleanor wrote. "The enclosed ring once belonged to your Aunt Jane. It was given to me by your Aunt Cassandra as soon as she knew that I was engaged to your uncle. I bequeath it to you. God bless you!"

"Jane Austen's simple and modest ring is a wonderfully intimate and evocative possession," said Dr Gabriel Heaton, a manuscript specialist at Sotheby's auction house." It is interesting to note that original appraisers of the turquoise ring  assumed it to be odontalite, a much less expensive stone that was often used to imitate this luxury item. Sotheby's first  description stated that the ring reflected both Jane Austen's "taste in jewelry" and "modest income". A second examination, however, proved that the stone was indeed genuine gold and turquoise, raising speculation as to whom it came from and that the ring might even have been an engagement ring. No one seems to know how the turquoise ring came into Jane's possession, but it has been in the Austen family ever since, until its recent purchase by an anonymous bidder. In any event, it is a beautiful piece and adds a bit more to our knowledge of Jane (note that the colour is a beautiful match to the bracelet owned by the Chawton Cottage Museum) and raises even more questions, revealing how much we really just don't know about her private life. Visit our giftshop to purchase your own turquoise jewelry, and be sure to check out Jane Smith's Regency Reproductions, inspired by Jane.