David Webb Shelter Island Peridot Diamond Gold Platinum Ring

It might come as little surprise that a jeweler who has counted Elizabeth Taylor, Jacqueline Kennedy and Barbra Streisand as clients isn’t exactly known for understated glamour. When North Carolina–born David Webb (1925–75) founded his eponymous company with his business partner Nina Silberstein in Manhattan in 1948, he was an unknown, having entered the industry in a city where Tiffany & Co. and Harry Winston were already trusted names. Webb was determined to make his mark as a jeweler and set himself apart by largely eschewing delicate, subtle pieces in favor of bold, colorful baubles featuring creative combinations of metals and gems. His Peridot ring is no exception. 

Although he’d apprenticed at his uncle’s jewelry-manufacturing company back home and had taken an art metalworking course, Webb was entirely self-taught. He headed to New York as a teenager, and by the time he was in his 20s, he found himself working in the Diamond District and making important connections — such as with French socialite Antoinette Quilleret, who would back him in opening his shop. He found inspiration for his work in a myriad of sources, immersing himself in the wonders of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and studying books on the natural world that would later inform the Tiger ring and Curly Lion bracelet designs in his Animal Kingdom collection. Webb was also very interested in arts and cultures from around the world. 

The Peridot ring’s centerpiece is its namesake’s stone, which dates back to ancient Egypt. It’s rectangular cut and set in a base of hammered, 18-karat gold. The stone is surrounded on all four sides by platinum flutes inset with brilliant-cut diamonds. The hammered gold, dazzling diamonds and faceted cut of the peridot merge to lend the piece a unique texture. A beguiling combination of modern and classic elements — like the various setting styles, split band and Webb’s signature hammered gold — make it fascinating from any vantage point, the ultimate conversation piece.

The peridot stone was mined from the island of Topazios in the Red Sea and appears in papyrus writings from as early as 1500 B.C. Many modern-day scholars suspect that some of the emeralds Cleopatra famously adorned herself with might have been peridot, the color of which ranges from emerald to olive green. Such a heritage for the Peridot ring seems apropos given Webb’s own fascination with foreign cultures and deep love of history. “Jewelry and objects of art 4,000 years old are newer than anything we have today,” he once said.

“Women are tired of jewelry-looking jewelry,” celebrated American designer David Webb once noted. In response, he created a menagerie of whimsical animals rendered as rings, brooches, earrings and, especially, bangle bracelets. This playfulness permeates all Webb’s work, which is characterized by brightly hued enamel and color-saturated semiprecious stones like coral, azurmalachite and turquoise, the notable exception being the clear, elegant rock crystal for which he had an affinity.

The North Carolina native apprenticed with his uncle, a silversmith, before moving to New York, where he established David Webb Inc. in 1948. He had no formal training in jewelry design. Instead, he culled inspiration from the ornamental styles of ancient Greece, Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Americas, as well as the traditions of India and China — influences discernible in such pieces as his collar necklaces and talisman-like sautoirs. 

Webb’s first animal bracelet was produced in 1957. His most famous, the zebra, took shape in 1963; its stripes now form the company’s logo. Although Webb died in 1975, his company continues to produce designs drawn from his extensive archives, and every piece is still made in the workshop above its Madison Avenue store.

Find an alluring collection of David Webb jewelry on 1stDibs, including earrings, brooches and other accessories.