Making Silent Stones Speak: Understanding Acrostic Jewelry

If you want to know what gems have to say, you need to learn the language of stones. For it is with this secret language that sentimental messages may be written in the form of jewelry. Stones “speak” through their arrangement in jewelry such that the first letter of the name of each stone, when considered in order, spells an acrostic motto, saying, wish, slogan, or amorous tiding. Acrostic jewelry appears to have begun in France in the earliest nineteenth or perhaps the latest eighteenth century. Popular in England, France, and America, acrostic jewelry spoke to a romantic sensibility reminding one to regard the giver through short phrases or words. For example, “regard” may be formed by this particular combination of stones:

Ruby
Emerald
Garnet
Amethyst
Ruby
Diamond.


Mid nineteenth century regard brooch spelled in paste.


Top: Early nineteenth century regard ring spelled in natural stones.
Bottom: Regard ring in natural stones hallmarked for Birmingham, England, 1848.

As with any language, we should begin with the alphabet.



Makers of contemporary acrostic jewelry fill in most of the missing letters, like “Y” with yellow zircon or “F” with fire opal, but antique jewelry never used the color of the stone or other qualifying adjectives as part of the acrostic. Most Victorian mottos could be spelled from the available stones above, but occasionally a zircon could be used in the rare instances that a “Z” was needed. The most common acrostic mottos are “regard” or “regards” and “dearest.” I have seen one gold brooch in the shape of a fountain pen-tip set with a Diamond, Emerald, Amethyst, and Ruby to spell “Dear,” the first word written when addressing a letter. Less common acrostics include “adore” and “love,” which is spelled:

Lapis
Opal
Vermeil (an archaic name for garnet)
Emerald.

Similarly, I have seen one French eternity band ring spelling “Je t’aime” (I love you):

Jet
Emerald
Topaz
Amethyst
Iolite
Malachite
Emerald.

Acrostic jewelry emerged at a time of intense interest in acrostic poetry, hieroglyphic epistles, and other forms of linguistic puzzles and coded messages. They are jewels deeply embedded in the cult of sentimentality and games of the heart. Stones speak the language of the heart and soul. As acrostics the hidden meanings of these sentimental jewels share a Biblical history with acrostic psalms written in ancient Hebrew, and some acrostic jewels expressed religious sentiments. For example, the until now unrecognized acrostic cross pendant from the British Museum collections, pictured below, reads “Je priât à St. A.” (I prayed to Saint A.) spelled from top to bottom and left to right:

Jacinth
Emerald
Pearl
Ruby
Iris
Amethyst
Topaz
Almandite (Garnet)
Sapphire
Topaz
Almandite



Through the nineteenth century, acrostic jewelry remained especially popular in France, and Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (1826; shown below) painted an intimate portrait of Madame Marcotte de Sainte-Marie wearing a tantalizing acrostic ring of which only “Je Sa(?)…” is legible.



French women of fashion sometimes wore semaine acrostics on the appropriate day of the week: Lundi (Monday), Mardi (Tuesday), Mercredi (Wednesday), Jeudi (Thursday), Vendredi (Friday), Samedi (Saturday), and Dimanche (Sunday).

Napoleon Bonaparte commissioned several articles of acrostic jewelry to commemorate important sentimental events, births, marriages, and so forth, with names and dates spelled out in stones1. The three bracelets pictured below memorialize Napoleon’s birthday, Marie Louise’s birthday, and their courtship, respectively:

Top: “Napoleon 15 Aôut 1769” spelled, Natrolite, Amethyst, Peridot, Opal, Lapis, Emerald, Onyx, Natrolite [15] Agate, Opal, Uranite, Turquoise [1769].

Middle: “Marie Louise 12 Decembre 1791” spelled, Malachite, Amethyst, Ruby, Iris, Emerald, Lapis, Opal, Uranite, Iolite, Sapphire, Emerald [12] Diamond, Emerald, Chrysoprase, Emerald, Malachite, Beryl, Ruby, Emerald [1791].

Bottom: “27 Mars 1810, 2 Avril 1810” (The date of their first meeting in Compiègne and the date of their wedding in Paris) spelled, [27] Malachite, Amethyst, Ruby, Serpentine [1810], [2] Amethyst, Vermeil (?), Ruby, Iris, Limestone [1810].



The additional Napoleon bracelet pictured below was made by François Regnault Nitot in 1806, and Henri Vever noted, “Unfortunately several of the missing stones were subsequently replaced without taking the first initial of their names into account, and others have been changed or inverted, which makes the reading of the motto impossible today.”2 However, I have decoded it. The confusion over the meaning of this bracelet probably arose from the opaque black stone, which looks like jet or onyx. However, the stone is actually quartz that has been turned black through irradiation over time because of being placed next to a uranite (uranium phosphate). The bracelet reads, "Napoleon 3 Juin 1806 à Lucques." Napoleon conquered Lucca, Italy (called Lucques in French) in 1805, and he appointed his sister, Elisa Bonaparte Bociocchi, as the Princes of Lucques. She gave birth to a daughter at Lucques on June 3, 1806. She was hoping for a boy to whom she could give the masculine name Napoleon after his uncle, but the Princess named her daughter Napoleon anyway. This bracelet was a gift from Napoleon Bonaparte to commemorate the birth of his niece.



Nitot and son delivered another bracelet to Marie Louise on 21 January 1812, incorporating a lock of hair from her son, the King of Rome, and a large diamond surrounded with colored stones spelling “Napoleon.”3 Jewelers made acrostics to spell out names other than Napoleon. The ring below, circa 1890, spells "Agnes" in paste, and like silver name plate brooches of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, it was probably a sentimental token kept by a loved one.

Aquamarine
Garnet
Natrolite
Emerald
Saphire



George Kunz recorded having seen another ring with the name “Sophia” spelled:

Sapphire
Opal
Peridot
Hyalite
Iolite
Amethyst.4

Acrostic name jewelry also recalls popular Victorian acrostic poems incorporating the names of people or places. Most of these lyrical acrostics were love poems, but Edgar Allan Poe’s “Elizabeth” (c. 1829) disrupts the amorous acrostic form of poetry to intensify the sense of unrequited love:

Elizabeth it is in vain you say
“Love not” – thou sayest in so sweet a way:
In vain those words from thee or L. E. L.
Zantippe’s talents had enforced so well:
Ah! If that language from your heart arise,
Breathe it less gently forth – and veil thine eyes.
Endymion, recollect, when Luna tried
To cure his love – was cured of all beside –
His folly – pride – and passion – for he died.5

Likewise, Lewis Carroll frequently included in his writings acrostic poems spelling the names of those to whom he dedicated his work. For example, Through the Looking-Glass (1871) concludes with a poem spelling “Alice Pleasance Liddell.”6
Like English Civil War portrait rings depicting Charles I, acrostics occasionally played a role in political struggles. In the mid nineteenth century, Italian nationals fighting against Austrian rule used the name of opera composer, Giuseppe Verdi, as an acrostic revolutionary cry, “Viva Verdi!” The slogan being code for “Viva Vittorio Emanuele Re D’Italia,” or Long Live Victor Emanuel King of Italy.7 Similarly, in England wearing “repeal” jewelry provided one form of popular protest against poorly conceived legislation. The English parliament’s attempts to keep domestic grain production profitable for the landed aristocracy led to the passing of several Corn Laws, which placed tariffs on the importation of foreign cereal. The Corn Laws resulted in unpredictable price fluctuations and food shortages that hit the urban proletariat especially hard. Riots and demonstrations ensued. Those who could afford to wore jewelry containing the following stones (or their paste equivalents) to spell “repeal”:

Ruby
Emerald
Pearl
Emerald
Amethyst
Lapis.

George Kunz provides an amusing anecdote regarding “repeal” jewelry:
An Irishman, who owned such a ring, noted one day that the lapis lazuli had fallen out, and took the ring to a jeweller in Cork, to have the missing stone replaced. When the work was completed, the owner, seeing that the jeweller had set a topaz in place of a lapis lazuli, protested against the substitution; but the jeweller induced him to accept the ring as it was, by the witty explanation that it now read, “repeat,” and that if the agitation were often enough repeated, the repeal would come of itself.8

In short, acrostics and jewelry may serve as a focal point for shared political aspirations, a badge of a body politic.
Other rare acrostics include: “souvenir,” “pet,” and “darling.” The two rings shown below are the only pieces of jewelry that I know of with the acrostic “darling,” which is spelled:

Diamond
Amethyst
Ruby
Lapis
Iolite
Nephrite
Garnet.

The ring pictured (top) is hallmarked for maker CJ Ltd. (probably Charles Jamison who was working in Inverness in 1810) 9ct. Sheffield 1835. The other identical "darling" ring pictured (below) is also from CJ Ltd. and hallmarked for 1824. Both rings are set with natural stones.



As demand for “regard jewelry” has steadily increased, prices for acrostics have skyrocketed. Collectors need to be especially careful not to get ripped off. Acrostic jewelry is still made today. Be especially careful when buying “dearest” and “regard” jewelry. Familiarize yourself with what the new ones look like and beware of pieces labeled “vintage” as these may not be the antique (i.e. Victorian or Edwardian) examples sought after by collectors, but may nonetheless be priced as antiques. I have seen modern “love,” “regard,” and “dearest” jewelry being sold at exorbitant prices by online antiques dealers who should know better. Shame on them. On the other hand, if you are any good at identifying stones, you can sometimes find rare or unusual acrostic jewelry offered at exceptionally low prices by dealers who are ignorant of what they have.

1 Shirley Bury (1991) gives a short description and discussion of the three Napoleon bracelets sold by Sotheby’s, however some of the stones were misidentified, Jewellery, 1789-1910, The International Era. Woodbridge: Antiques Collectors Club, p. 141.

2 Henri Vever (2001) French Jewelryof the Nineteenth Century. London: Thames and Hudson, p. 119.

3 Ibid.

4 George Kunz (1917/1973) Rings for the Finger. New York: Dover, p. 50.

5 Edgar Allan Poe (c. 1829) “Elizabeth.” Undated manuscript.

6 Lewis Carroll (1871/2003) Through the Looking-Glass. Ann Arbor: Borders Classics, p. 172.

7 Charles Horne (1894) Great Men and Famous Women. New York: Selmar Hess, p. 342.

8 George Kunz (1917/1973) Rings for the Finger. New York: Dover, p. 50.