Treasure House Fair Opens This Week in London With Six Centuries of Jewels

By Annie Davidson Watson | June 23, 2026

The fourth edition of the Treasure House Fair opens tomorrow at London’s Royal Hospital Chelsea, and the jewelry on offer this year spans six centuries of European history—from a ring that belonged to a confidant of Henry VIII to a Portuguese jeweler making its first appearance at a European fair. After a preview day on June 24, the fair will be open every day through June 30.

The most remarkable piece at the event is a heart-shape memento mori (pictured at top), created to commemorate the 1634 death of 6-year-old Robert Aston, son of Sir Thomas Aston, a member of Parliament and of King Charles I’s court. Suspending a lock of the child’s blond hair, the pendant shows a skull in black and white enamel, surrounded by a golden wreath.

Sir Thomas is depicted wearing the piece in the 1635 painting “Sir Thomas Aston at the Deathbed of His Wife,” by John Souch. The jewel, long believed lost, was rediscovered after four centuries, and dealer Martyn Downer is devoting his entire stand at the Treasure House Fair to it.

Sir Thomas Tresham ring — *Sir Thomas Tresham’s signet ring*

At jewelry and antiques gallery Greens of Cheltenham’s booth, a 16th-century gold and crystal signet ring carries its own dark backstory. It was created circa 1557 for Sir Thomas Tresham, a close associate of Henry VIII who helped welcome the king’s fourth wife, German princess Anne of Cleves, to England. The Tresham family was later implicated in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 (an attempt to bomb the House of Lords and assassinate King James VI) and all but vanished from mainstream history.

Greens of Cheltenham is also offering a mourning ring for Edward IV, inscribed with the date of his death and discovered at Windsor in 1789.

Also at the Treasure House Fair, exhibitor S.J. Phillips is presenting a diamond, sapphire, and ruby Order of the Golden Fleece insignia with stickpin and medal miniature, commissioned from Chaumet in 1900 by the 16th Duke of Alba’s wife. Meanwhile, St. James’s antiques dealer Wartski brings a 1970 Cartier “Crystal Stairs” rock crystal and gold bracelet designed by Aldo Cipullo, the designer who created Cartier’s iconic Love bracelet.

ROSIOR earrings — *A pair of Rosior earrings*

Making its European fair debut is Rosior, a Porto-based firm founded in 1978 that produces just 130 jewelry pieces—each one-of-a-kind and entirely handmade—annually. Designer Graça Rosas, who now leads the family-owned house alongside her brother José, works exclusively in platinum and 19.2k gold, the traditional karat for Portuguese gold.

(Photos courtesy of Treasure House Fair)

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