Mourning ring

Here's a rather splendid-looking ring (possibly a mourning ring) coming up for sale at the Netherhampton Saleroom in Salisbury, Wilts, on October 6. It is valued at £1,000.

The description reads: "A Masonic diamond, red glass and enamel ring, early 19th century, the bezel set with four red pastes in the form of a cross above a white enamel ground cut with twelve tears, each accented by a rose cut diamond, the champleve enamel shank decorated with a series of Masonic symbols including the letters D, S O and cross patée at the shoulders, a rose diamond set sun and crescent, the square and compasses, the gavel, an axe, two crossed swords, the Star of David, and the perfect ashlar, the shank with a neatly soldered resizing band within, finger size K1/2. The Cross on the bezel is used by the Masonic Knight Templar but also by the Rectified Scottish Rite, one of the oldest extant Masonic Orders in the world. The twelve tears on the face may suggest the present example was a mourning ring. "