Gold Ring Set with Glass Imitating Emerald
Description
The convex green glass set in the bezel imitates a cabochon emerald. It is not uncommon to find glass imitations of gemstones set in Roman and Byzantine jewelry, even fine gold rings such as this. No doubt these rings would have been less expensive than rings set with gems, although still very valuable inview of the quantity of gold. The relative values of gems in the late Romanand Byzantine period are largely unknown, although there was clearly an increased interest in rare stones, such as sapphire, emerald, and garnet, aswell as pearls, in late Roman and Byzantine times.
Literature
Jeffrey Spier, Byzantium and the West: Jewelry in the First Millenium, cat. no. 11.