To the best of my knowledge the gemstone for this ring is a Ceylon color changing sapphire. It is a rich cornflower blue in the daylight, and has a very violet color in the evening which is not easily captured in pictures. This is not confirmed by a gemologist yet.
The ring setting is filigreed containing 12 very small diamonds.
The ring size is approx a 5.
Historial assistance -
"Thomas Lipton visited Sri Lanka in the 1890s and made business deals with James Taylor the man who introduced tea plantations to Sri Lanka (Ceylon). Lipton's company purchased good quality tea from Sri Lanka and distributed it through Europe and the USA" (Wikepedia)
It is very possible that this ring could have been a gift to Thomas Lipton or he could have purchased it there given that this is a Ceylon Sapphire. Lipton was a great admirer of Maude Jeffries. However I do not have an account of when the ring was given or under what circumstances.
"In 1890, already a millionaire, Lipton was in need of a holiday and booked a passage to Australia. On the way, he broke his journey in Ceylon. He had an interest in tea as a product to sell in his shops. Lipton did not trust middlemen, and wanted to explore the possibilities of growing tea and bringing it direct to Britain. He couldn't have picked a better time. Since the problems of the coffee blight, plantations in the island were going for a song. He bought four and could now fully control his company's tea's quality and price."
