Conspiracy hunters of all countries, unite!
Before you start reading, we apologise for a longer mail than usual, but we think it's worth it. So make yourself comfortable, read and enjoy!
This week at Adin, we received the following mail:
"To Whom It May Concern,
I am writing in reference to the Gold Victorian Bishop's Ring (Reference Nº: 09360-4341) you have shown on your website. From the lack of information you have on the ring, I assume you know little of it? I, on the other hand, do know the significant provenance of the ring.
The ring was commissioned for my great-grandfather in 1869 by the then Roman Catholic Bishop of Paris, Georges Darboy. My great-grandfather, whose name I will not disclose for personal reasons, was both a member of Dutch and English aristocracy. Dutch by birth and English through marriage. Georges Darboy is one of the most prominent of all the Bishops of Paris; he was an ostentatious man and held his differences with the Pope as to his infallibility. My great-grandfather and Darboy were close friends, often visiting and hunting with one another.
The ring was made during the Franco-Prussian War as a gift to my great-grandfather for funding the rebuild of a significant church or chapel (I am unsure which) in the Paris region after it was devastated by fire years before. My great-grandfather also gifted a number of relics from his private collection to the Bishop over the years before his death.
When the ring was originally made, the stone it housed was a sapphire. By all accounts, the stone was an exceptional example - nearly flawless and of magnificent colour. Queen Victoria herself admired the stone in a letter to my great-grandmother. Unfortunately, the sapphire was accidentally broken some years later and replaced by the current stone. We still have three rather large stones that were cut from the original broken sapphire. We also have a portrait of my great-grandfather wearing the ring in 1887 with the original sapphire.
Georges Darboy was killed in Paris by the Communards during their takeover of Paris in 1871.
The ring passed to my grandfather and then to my father. It was left accidentally in the Netherlands upon my father's escape to England during the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands. The ring was never seen again. It is great to see that it survived the war and subsequent years.
Unto the ring itself, the Chi-Rho is indeed a Chi-Rho but also the representation of the Latin word PAX, meaning 'peace'. Darboy expressed this as his wish for peace between France and Prussia. The initials are those of my great-grandfather. The inner ring with the wolf does not have any connection to the Jesuits. Neither Darboy nor my great-grandfather had a connection to the Jesuits. The wolf ring was made shortly after the main ring to fit my great-grandfather's finger without gloves - this way he could wear it to mass. The wolf itself represents the nickname of my great-grandfather.
Sadly, I am not in a position to purchase the ring, but I would appreciate it if the provenance of the ring be passed onto the person that does purchase the stone. I do not mind you providing this information on your website as long as no reference to myself or my family is made with it.
Kind regards, *****"
Interesting, no? We thought so too. But to make this long and fascinating story even more captivating, we invite you to visit the describing page of this ring, where we pasted the same story but added a link that will please the conspiracy hunters among our customers.
Enjoy!
