1850s English Silver and Gold pendant. White Gold was created in the 1920s; in the mid-1800s, if a “noble” white metal was required, there was Platinum or Silver, and Platinum was always a rare and very costly metal. The work, effort and concentration required of the bench jewellers who created pieces such as the above, first fashioning by hand in 9ct Gold the understructure, then superimposing onto that the intricate Silver facing for the bead-setting of the 56 old cut Diamonds, is regarded with awe by bench jewellers of today, but in the mid-1800s the labour involved, though great, was considerably less costly than that of the Platinum required.
The nice white Pearl, 4.25mm round, is natural. The above Pearl was selected for this pendant over one hundred years before the Japanese first mastered the creation, in commercial quantity, of cultured Pearl, effectively bringing about the end of trade in the more costly natural Pearl.