Description

Although at the time, it was a papal/military metal, doesn’t discount it being a beautifully crafted piece of jewelry.

The ‘Order of Christ’ was a sacred order founded by King Denis of Portugal in 1319. It was created to protect the fleeing Knights Templar after their destruction by King Philip IV of France. During the Portuguese monarchy, the Order of Christ members were almost exclusively royality and nobility. After the abolition of the Monarchy in 1910, it became a military order, awarded by the secular government for various reasons.

There are many examples of plated and solid gold versions of the Republican crosses, these are known as the (Type II) model. However, original (Type I) crosses from the Monarchy period are very hard to find. Bejeweled examples like this cross with garnets and rose cut diamonds are even more rare. This cross was made around 1790-1820.

This cross has precision cut red garnets as well as rose cut diamonds. The metal is a solid block of silver, weighing 15.5 grams. The cross is 5.5cm long. For payments, I use Paypal invoices.