Victorian Coach Cover Earrings

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Victorian European cut diamond drop earrings with gold and black enamel spherical coach covers. Also known as opera covers, the covers concealed the valuable diamonds while traveling, such as a night out at the opera.

Retailed by the London firm Hunt & Roskell, formerly Storr & Mortimer, with original box.
Circa 1880.

$38,000

The firm Hunt & Roskell dates back to the early 19th century, when Paul Storr established his firm Storr & Co. in 1819. Within a few years he partnered first with John Mortimer, followed soon after by John Samuel Hunt. When Storr retired in 1838, the firm was renamed Mortimer & Hunt. Upon Mortimer’s retirement in 1843, the firm became Hunt & Roskell. At this time the firm comprised John Samuel Hunt and his son John Hunt, Robert Roskell Jn. (son of the Liverpool watchmaker Robert Roskell), and Charles Frederick Hancock. The firm increasingly gained recognition over the years, making jewelry for Queen Victoria and exhibiting in the 1851 London Great Exhibition and many others, including New York in 1851 and Paris in 1867.