Past Grand High Preist - South Dakota 1906 - Royal Arch Chapter

This one is a jewel, in more than one sense!

From the back the makers mark RMJ can be made out

the crown is hinged!

I was able to determine that RMJ is:

And I found the minutes of the Grand Sessions of South Dakota in that year.....

 

Held here:

 From these minutes, I was able to determine that the original cost of the jewel was $50 in 1905:

it lists $150 to R. M. Johnson, but they bought three jewels that year

And the best part of the minutes?  The acceptance speech of George Perry!

Grand High Priest George h. Perry accepted this jewel on St. John's day, as is masonically proper!  The text above says December 7th, but that is a typo.  Earlier in the text it says after Christmas and December 27th - the feast day of St. John the Evangelist.

A few more pictures and comments on the construction:

there is a separate layer of ornamentation below the stones

nearly every visible space is adorned.

seemingly by hand

The stones are natural stones, quality synthetics were not yet invented in 1905

The piece was hand engraved  and meticulously riveted togethe.r

Each stone was set into a cast setting, these settings were carefully cut into the sheet and soldered into place.  That is the little visible ring around the ovals behind the stones above.

The strap was soldered together on the back, and the catch was hand fabricated.

The beading is in gold, and there is engraving on the back side of the bale.

This picture shows the care with which the stones were set.

 If you happen upon this little blog and have a picture of George H. Perry, or know a surviving relative... please contact me.

This jewel is 5.5" by 2.5" and weighs 43 grams.  It is 18k gold.

relative amount I paid for this - very high

As of 5/9/14 the gold scrap value works out to about $1,300 - give or take, it is difficult to know the weight of the stones and cloth

However, none of these are for sale.