The art of glyptics, or carving images on colored precious stones, is probably one of the oldest known to humanity. Intaglios, gems with an incised design, were made as early as the fourth and third millennia B.C. in Mesopotamia and the Aegean Islands. They exhibit a virtuosity of execution that suggests an old and stable tradition rooted in the earliest centuries. The tools required for carving gems were simple: a wheel with a belt-drive and a set of drills. Abrasives were necessary since the minerals used were too hard for a metal edge. A special difficulty of engraving intaglios, aside from their miniature size, was that the master had to work with a mirror-image in mind.

A representation of the Goddess Victoria has been engraved onto the polished surface of this precious gemstone. The Roman personification of victory, the winged goddess prepares to crown and unknown entity with a laurel wreath, the traditional mark of a champion. Her wings suggest, however, as all champions known, that victory is fleeting. Although she disappears too soon, here she is eternally captured just at the moment victory is being bestowed. Wearing this gorgeous ring, we become the victors. Take comfort though, for this Victoria is not fleeting but shall forever be present upon our fingers crowning us a champion.