Pair of opera glasses

These Tiffany & Co. opera glasses were a wedding gift to King George V and Queen Mary in 1893. They are made from gold and scattered with rose-cut diamonds. Tiffany & Co. were well known for their luxury items, but opera glasses made from gold were rare – usually the surfaces were mother-of-pearl or enamel, in imitation of eighteenth-century pieces. Both ends of each glass are ringed with pearls, and the surface of the gold has been finely engine-turned with a decorative pattern.