Display device for ornamental objects

An ornamental display device having a mounting device and, attached thereto, a cage-like structure for holding and presenting an ornamental object like a gem. The cage-like structure is formed by at least three filaments and has a normally closed and an open position. The ornamental object can be removed and interchanged when the cage is in its open position.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to new and useful improvements in ornamental 
articles, such as jewelry, and more particularly pertains to a display 
device suitable for removably holding ornamental objects like stones and 
other pleasant or valuable objects, and pieces of personal adornment. 
At the present time, numerous forms of jewelry and ornamental articles are 
known wherein one or more ornamental objects like stones are held by 
mounting devices. All these ornamenting articles have the common character 
that the ornamental objects are fixed in a solid, captive and nonremovable 
manner to a mounting device, an armature or another equivalent means, 
permitting the wearing and display of said ornamental objects. For 
example, it is well known that in pendants, a pearl or a gem is fixed by a 
rivet which traverses a bore in the pearl or gem, to a metallic mounting 
piece which is supported by a chain to be worn around the neck of the 
wearer. 
Another solution of fixing pearls or gems to a metallic mounting has become 
known. In this solution, special ornaments like beads and pearls having 
diametrical bores are supported by rods which extend through these bores, 
and a number of such rods form the mounting device, see U.S. Pat. No. 
1,781,687 (Jacob Hazman). Here again, there is no possibility to 
conveniently remove the beads or pearls. 
In French Pat. No. 929,319 (Marc Koven), rings and pendants are disclosed 
wherein one or more precious stones are confined within a rigid cage. The 
cage is formed by strong metallic wires or rods. In the case of a pendant, 
the cage may have the form of a spiral. But in all these embodiments, a 
removable holding of ornamental pieces is not foreseen nor suggested. 
For some years, a new kind of ornament has been widely distributed on the 
market, namely fashion or popular adornments, having a relatively low 
price even for young women who do not have much money. The relatively low 
price of these ornaments allows the wearer to use more than one ornament a 
day or an evening, and to adapt them easily to the costumes and the 
particular occasions. 
With the foregoing in mind it is now to be noted that the present invention 
has for its primary objective to provide an ornament display device of 
today's fashion which permits the wearer to change the ornamental effect 
of the display device without changing the display device itself. 
Another objective of the invention is to provide a display device wherein 
an ornamental object may easily be removed and replaced by another one. 
A further objective of the invention is to provide a display device article 
of the kind defined above wherein the removable ornamental object or piece 
is firmly confined within an enclosure during its use but perfectly 
visible therein. 
Another objective of the invention is to provide a display device of the 
kind described above where the structure holding the ornamental object is 
as little visible as possible. 
A still further objective of this invention is to provide a display device 
complying with all aesthetic requirements and avoiding the disadvantageous 
aspect of an inexpensive fashion adornment, thereby giving the appearance 
of presenting as a piece of jewelry of good or outstanding quality. 
Now in order to implement these and still further objects of the invention 
which will become more readily apparent as the description proceeds, the 
invention involves a display device comprising a mounting device and a 
cage-like structure adjacent the mounting device for visibly holding 
therein an ornamental object. The cage-like structure, which is formed by 
a plurality of filaments has a closed position and an open position. In 
its closed position, the cage-like structure is arranged for holding the 
ornamental object within the space formed by the filaments and the 
mounting device, the ornamental object being removable and interchangeable 
when the cage-like structure is in its open position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Before dealing specifically with preferred embodiments of the present 
invention, some general features and facets thereof should be described. 
The display device of the invention is preferably a pendant but may also be 
a key-ring, amulet, jewel of any kind, bracelet hanger, etc. The filaments 
which form the cage and which serve to enclose and retain one or more 
ornamental objects are generally as thin as possible in order to not hide 
the object. Elastic filaments are highly preferred; they are generally 
made of steel. If no or not a high elasticity is requested, the filaments 
may also be of synthetic materials like nylon, polyolefine, polyester etc. 
The filaments may have an ornamental aspect. In this case, they may be made 
of a noble metal or a non-corrosive ordinary metal. Examples for such 
metals are silver, gold, platinum, iridium and their alloys, nickel, brass 
and stainless steel. Steel filaments may be plated with a noble or 
non-corrosive metal. The surface of such filaments or wires can be 
decorated or engraved, and the wires may also be twisted. Furthermore, it 
is possible to fit them with ornamental elements, such as little precious 
or semiprecious stones or pearls. 
Three filaments are sufficient to form the cage. However, in order to 
minimize the risk of losing the ornamental object, more than three 
filaments are preferred, e.g. four, five, six or eight filaments or wires. 
The ornamental object must be held firmly, but in a removable and 
interchangeable manner within the cage. Embodiments are provided wherein 
the cage formed by the filaments can completely be separated from the 
mounting device. In other embodiments, at least one of the filaments is 
fixed to the mounting device, and only part of the filaments is removably 
connected to the mounting device or to other filaments so that the 
ornamental object may be interchanged. 
The ornamental object may be selected by the wearer of the article. 
Examples of ornamental objects capable of being inserted into the cage are 
precious stones like rubies, sapphires, emeralds; semiprecious stones like 
agate, turmaline, amethyst, rock crystal etc., these stones being polished 
or unpolished; furthermore shells, pebbles, fruits, nuts, pearls, 
medallions, watches, flowers, snail-shells, lockets, etc. A preferred 
embodiment provides a mounting device with three removable cages of 
different sizes so that the latter can be adapted to the object to be 
enclosed. 
The cage and the mounting device may be adapted for mutual rotative motion 
in order to best present the most pleasant face of the object in the cage. 
Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawing, the ornamental article has a 
mounting device 1 and a cage-like structure 5. 
The mounting device 1 is a bulb-like piece of metal or plastic material 
having an opening 2 wherein a chain may be provided. At its lower end (see 
FIG. 2), the mounting device 1, which may include ornamental elements, is 
hollow so as to form a cavity 3 which has a generally circular 
cross-sectional shape and an edge 4. The cage is formed by six steel wires 
6,6'. One end of these wires is fixed in a bead 7 so that diametrical 
opposed wires 6,6' are in reality one wire having the bead 7 at its mid 
portion (see FIG. 2). The free end of all wires 6,6' is bent outwardly to 
form a hook 8, and all hooks are received in the cavity 3. In FIG. 1, an 
ornamental object 7A, e.g. a pyrite crystal, is shown enclosed in the 
cage. 
It is to be noted that the cage may be rotated relative to the mounting 
device 1 since the hooks 8 may slide in the cavity 3. However, two, three 
or four wires may be fixed in the cavity 3, as by soldering, and the cage 
can still be opened by unhooking the free wires. 
It is furthermore possible (see FIG. 6) and even preferred to join adjacent 
wires 6,6' pair-wise (this means to make them from a wire of double 
length) and to form a hook 25 common to both wires. Therefore, only three 
wire pairs need be inserted into the cavity 3, and the hook has no sharp 
or pointed end which presents certain advantages: the closing operation is 
less troublesome and more rapid. The two wires 6,6' of FIG. 6 are made 
from one length of wire, and the free ends of the all wires may be 
inserted into a little tube 26 wherein they are fixed. The final cage has 
therefore the aspect of a flower having two, three, four or more petals. 
The wires or filaments may be soldered to the bead 7 or the tube 26, which 
are then of metal, or they may be fixed thereto by pressing. The bead 7 
may also be an ornamenting piece when it receives an appropriate shape and 
work or ornamental element. It need not be spherical. For example, it may 
be oval, polyhedric, or any other shape. 
A rotation of the cage relative to the mounting may be accomplished in 
another manner, see FIG. 4. The upper portion of the mounting 9, 
comprising an opening 10, is provided with a stem 11 which ends in a head 
12. The lower part 13 has an internal groove 14 wherein the head 12 may 
rotate, and a collar 15 which surrounds the stem 11. In this way, part 13 
may freely rotate about part 9. 
In the described embodiments, the wires 6 terminate in hooks 8. However, in 
a further embodiment, the wires may have straight ends terminating in 
small balls which may be engaged into the circular groove of the cavity 3, 
and the wires are maintained therein by their inherent elasticity. The 
balls may also be engaged by appropriate circular recesses in the wall of 
the cavity 3. 
The display device may, in such cases, also present the form represented in 
FIG. 7. The mounting is generally ring-shaped and has a first ring 21, 
generally of metal, which is fixed to a second ring 22 the inner periphery 
or wall of which is provided with slots 23 wherein the wires 6 may be 
inserted. Due to the elasticity of the wires 6 of the cage, the wires are 
maintained in their respective slots, and the balls 24 hinder them from 
sliding out of the ring 22. The balls 24 serve at the same time as 
additional decorative elements. 
The cage may have its closure at the bottom instead at the top, as 
described above, see FIG. 5. In this embodiment, the wires or filaments 
16, 16' are pressed with one of their ends in the block 17 which forms 
part, in a fixed or rotative manner, of the mounting device. The wires 16, 
16' terminate at their free ends by balls 18 which are received in a 
corresponding circular, toroid shaped groove of the closure 19. This 
closure is constituted of two half-shells 20 and 20', linked by a screw, a 
threaded shaft or a tension spring to join them together but to allow at 
least a partial separation to liberate the balls 18 whereby the cage can 
be opened. This opening will be a partial one if some of the balls are 
thicker than the remainder, as it can easily be understood. 
In all of the described embodiments, the closed position of the cage may be 
locked. Locking means are generally known to the one skilled in the art. 
For example, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, a conical piece may 
be screwed from below into the cavity 3 when the mounting device 1 is 
rotated relative to the cage. 
A preferred embodiment with locked closure is shown in an exploded 
sectional view in FIG. 8. The cage, generally designed by 30, has four 
pairs of gold plated steel wires 6, 6' provided with hooks 25, see also 
FIG. 6. A flat block 32 holds the wires together at the bottom of the cage 
30. 
The mounting device comprises an upper part 34 and a lower part 36. The 
chain ring 38 of the upper part 34 is fixed to a threaded cylindrical 
portion 40 which bears, on its lower flat surface, a cylindrical bolt 42. 
The lower part 36 is formed by a hollow ring 44 having an inner thread 46 
fitting to the thread 40. The circular recess 48 facilitates the insertion 
of the hooks 25 which are represented in dotted lines. The diameter of the 
lower opening 50 is such that the bolt 42 may penetrate in the opening 50 
when all wires 6, 6' have their hooks 25 inserted into the part 36. When 
the upper part 34 is screwed into the lower part 36, the bolt 42 closes 
the opening 50 and, simultaneously, the hooks engage the lower flat 
surface of the cylinder 40. It is now impossible to disengage the cage 
from the mounting device. 
It is to be understood that the form of the invention herein shown and 
described is to be taken as preferred examples of the same and that 
various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be 
resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the 
scope of the following claims.