This 19th century gold ring, possibly made in Calcutta in north-eastern India, is set with a large oval sapphire. It has characteristic features of Indian traditional jewellery, while adopting a European method of setting the stone. The sapphire has been cut to produce as large a stone as possible rather than to show its colour to best advantage: there is a marked colour bar across the middle. The claw setting was probably introduced into Indian jewellery by the late 18th century, as Indian goldsmiths copied pieces worn by their new Western clients.
The ring was acquired by the Indian Museum in London in 1855 as a piece made in "Bengal". At the time this would have indicated a centre in the Bengal Presidency, a much larger area than present-day Bengal. It is possible that it was made in Calcutta, which had large numbers of jewellers, Indian and European, producing work in hybrid styles. In 1879 the ring was transferred with other parts of the Indian Museum's collections to the South Kensington Museum, later renamed the Victoria and Albert Museum.