ESSEX CRYSTALS

An Essex crystal is a domed piece of rock crystal with an image carved into the back of it in reverse, then painted by hand. Viewed from the front, through the dome, the design appears to float inside the stone in full three dimensions. The technique is called reverse intaglio, and almost nobody still does it.

Because of a mistake that was never corrected. William Essex was a Victorian enamel miniaturist and a favorite of Queen Victoria, and the public assumed these crystals were his work. They were not, he had nothing to do with them. The technique is credited to Emile Marius Pradier of Belgium, around 1860, and was brought to Britain later that decade by a lapidary named Thomas Cook, who sold through Hancock’s in London. The wrong name has stuck for more than 160 years, and by now it is simply what they are called.

A rock crystal cabochon is cut and polished, and the image is then carved into its flat back in reverse, historically using as many as 250 different tools, with a mixture of oil and diamond dust. The deeper the carving, the greater the sense of depth. The carved image is painted by hand, in miniature and in reverse, so that it reads correctly from the front. The back is then sealed against a reflective ground: gold foil on the earliest pieces, and later mother of pearl, which is what we use. Only then is it set.

It asks for three separate specialists’ skills in a single object, lapidary carving, miniature painting and precision setting, and it is done entirely by hand. Production fell away in the 1920s and 30s, when molded glass and plastic imitations flooded the market and destroyed demand for the real thing. The craft never recovered. A small handful of artisans practice it today.

A genuine Essex crystal is carved into natural rock crystal. You are looking at real relief cut into quartz, with paint applied inside the carving. Imitations are molded or pressed glass carrying a printed or transferred image, and they read flat, the picture sits on a surface rather than inside a volume. Tilt the piece: a real one shifts, because the image has actual depth. A printed one does not. Every L’Heritage Essex crystal is hand-carved and hand-painted. None are printed or pressed.

Hand carved, hand painted domed rocked crystal, set over mother of pearl every piece, not a selection and our motif pendants are framed in solid 18k gold. Two designs carry diamonds the Crescent Moon, with four clusters of pavé, and mushroom, star-set around the bezel.

Yes, Commissions are the oldest way these pieces were made a crest, a monogram, a beloved animal, a subject that means something only to the person it is for. L'Heritage takes a limited number each year. Commissions begin at $2,500, take ten to twelve weeks from approval, and include one design revision. Enquire through our bespoke form and we will talk through what is possible.

Our motif pendants begin at $4,250, with price depending on the design and whether it carriesdiamonds. Custom commissions begin at $2,500 and are priced according to complexity.

Yes, and they were made to be. The rock crystal itself is quartz, harder than almost anything it will meet in the coure of a day. What needs protecting is the hand painted layer and the mother of pearl behind it, both of which sit at the back of the stone where moisture and solvents can reach. So wear it. Just take if off for showering, swimming, the gym, perfume, and anything involving cleaning products.

Clean it gently with a soft cloth and, if needed, a little mild soap on the gold only. Never use an ultrasonic cleaner, steam, solvents or abrasives all of them can reach the painted back. Store it separately, so that nothing harder knocks against the dome. Handled this way it will look the same in fifty years as it does today, which is more or less the argument for owning one.