Sherlock Meta: Facets

[saki101]

Title: Facets
Author: saki101
Characters/Pairings: Sherlock, AGRA, John, Sherlock/John, Mary/John,
Rating: G
Genre: Meta
Word Count: ~700
Disclaimer: Sherlock is not mine and no money is being made.
Summary: Post-His Last Vow, a reflection on refraction and other facets. (Couldn't resist.)
A/N: More musings about Series Three and how it might connect to things that went before.


"Her wedding ring...rest of her jewellery's been regularly cleaned, but not her wedding ring, state of her marriage right there." (screencap from A Study in Pink)


(screencap from The Empty Hearse)

Also, posted on A03.




Facets

Where did John get Mary's engagement ring? Was the ring in John's family? The diamonds don't have the sparkle of gems freshly-cleaned from the jeweller and the faceting on the largest stone indicates that it isn't a diamond at all.

The play of light and the transparency of the middle stone (one can glimpse a bit of the material lining the jewel box through it) are not qualities that one would find in a diamond of that size (exceptions for enormous gems such as one might see in a museum, like the Koh-i-noor or the Hope diamonds). The high refractive index of diamond and the numerous facets cut in stones for jewellery cause light to bounce around and make the stone nearly opaque with refracted light. The optical qualities of the stones in the engagement ring are closer to those of cut glass or quartz. Also, being the hardest mineral on the Mohs scale (exceptions for recently identified minerals in meteorites and volcanic rock) diamond cannot be scratched by other minerals and thus maintains it brilliance. The centre stone in the photo is abraded and duller because of that.

So, why have we been given this close-up? Are we supposed to notice these things? What are we supposed to make of them? Just a slip up with the props or clues?

We don't see Sherlock getting a look at the ring at the restaurant, but he could have been looking over John's shoulder while we have the close-ups of the ring and John's hands. Even if Sherlock did not see the ring then, he would have seen it once Mary began wearing it. What would that have meant to Sherlock?

Assuming John is oblivious to the quality of the stones because the ring was his mother's or grandmother's and apparently Mary is not bothered by their quality, what would the engagement ring not being what it was believed to be mean as a symbol? Particularly when we compare it to what Sherlock deduced about the Pink Lady's marriage from her wedding ring? Admittedly, the condition of the ring is exaggerated in ASiP. Jennifer Wilson is identified as someone who doesn't work with her hands and yet her wedding ring looks like it's had a go round in the garbage disposal. We are asked to accept that it is in that condition because she doesn't clean it regularly as she does her other pieces of jewellery. So, jewellery associated with marriage that isn't bright and sparkling is equated with a troubled relationship, an unhappy marriage in Jennifer Wilson's case. Carrying on with that symbolism, are we being told that John's engagement to Mary is not a happy one from the outset?

With all the parallels in Series 3 to things in the previous series, I'm inclined to think we are being told something and that this wasn't an oversight in supplying an inadequate prop for an intense close-up that fills the whole screen. But there are examples of seeming oversights, like the close-up of the wedding invitation having a different date than the date used on John's blog, so I suppose an oversight isn't totally out of the question.

As long as I am carrying on about rings, we might think about Jennifer Wilson's engagement ring, which is a spray of diamonds, one large along with many others. She is married with a string of lovers, Sherlock tells us. Hmm.

The ring John gives to Mary consists of three stones, the largest one set in the middle of two smaller stones that match. Hmm, again. Plus we have enough detail in the shot of the middle stone to be confident that it is not a diamond, the other two are not so clear. In the shot, the middle stone and the smaller one on the right are catching the light, the smaller stone on the left is mostly in shadow. What might we deduce about these things?

These details have been pestering me for weeks. Perhaps they will leave me alone now that I've written about them!

Comments

[swissmarg]

That's cool, I never would have got so much out of that brief shot of the engagement ring. I don't know gems at all anyway. I sort of don't think that the props people gave it that much thought, though. They probably just took whatever ring they had lying around that sort of looked like a mid-priced engagement ring. Although it would be awesome if it turns out you are right! We haven't been told what Mycroft's ring means yet either, and that's been around since the first series.

[saki101.livejournal.com]

Mineralogy is a hobby of mine, so when I saw that shot, it struck me and then, of course, I went back and stared at it a lot. I know that it could just have been a casual prop decision, but the idea that it could be more kept tickling at me. For example, in HLV there are no close-up shots of the ring Sherlock showed Janine and the idea that he is proposing comes across clearly, even without her reaction and John's remarks. So it wasn't necessary to have such a close-up of John's ring to tell us he was planning to propose to Mary that evening, a glimpse of a ring in a box would have told us.

Perhaps someone will have an interview where that question is addressed and it will be clarified that it was just the ring that happened to be handy!

Oh and Mycroft's ring...yes, much mystery there, especially in light of "caring not being an advantage".

[urb-banal.livejournal.com]

Mary says, "well, when we get engaged, the first attempt was interrupted." or something to that effect at the Xmas get together so maybe she hasn't started to wear it and so Sherlock hasn't deduced anything about it...

[saki101.livejournal.com]

I didn't have any luck getting a clear view of her hand until TSoT and even then it wasn't a close-up. Possibly she wasn't wearing the engagement ring until the wedding planning scenes. What would Sherlock have thought of it, if he didn't see the ring until then? More hmm-ing...

[urb-banal.livejournal.com]

I only just saw the first episode of the new season. We are behind here I guess.

[saki101.livejournal.com]

Oh, dear! I'm so sorry for the spoilers!!

When do you get the next episode? I was particularly partial to that one.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Hmmm ... Interesting thoughts. Even though after the disappointment that was Series 3 I all but stopped caring. The mysterious wedding ring is the only thing that is left of Mycroft's enigmatic persona, which is a crying shame.

[saki101.livejournal.com]

When the original disappoints, there is, thankfully, fanfiction!

I read your review recently. I have to go to your LJ to comment in more detail. I, too, liked TSoT best, but I'm finding more I like as I rewatch scenes to check dialogue or for screencaps. I'm not ready to watch the whole series again yet, but there may be hope. I am definitely still digesting!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I've recently rewatched the first two eps,mostly for the John-Sherlock and the Mycroft-Sherlock moments. I'm not sure when (if ever) I'll rewatch Ep 3 - the same as with Season 2. I hated Moriarty, and if they truly bring him back,
then I'm off to AU-lands permanently.

Why can't they just take canon episodes and twist them around, like they did with Baskerville and the Woman? Those were excellent parts. But now everybody seems to being deconstructed, and I really don't like it. The Holmes parents are horrible (although I understand that BC wanted his own folks on the show),John is turning into a naive fool, Mycroft is slowly but steadily losing his mystery and Sherlock - well, Sherlock is losing his, too.

After a second viewing, I'm still very disappointed.

[jcporter1.livejournal.com]

Well done. I like the arrangement. Two diamonds around a faux gem.

[saki101.livejournal.com]

You see that I am reaching out for something to pin my hopes on here!

[eilidhsd.livejournal.com]

You have some eye for detail. You probably see more than Sherlock ever sees!

[saki101.livejournal.com]

This is a big question for me. What did Sherlock understand when he finally saw the ring?

It almost makes me think that he demonstrates to John how easy it is to get engaged, how it doesn't necessarily mean what it might be taken to mean on the surface. I know that the engagement to an employee of the blackmailer was part of canon, but it could also serve an interesting purpose in this adaptation. As they are closed into the elevator, Sherlock repeats the line about "human error".

[venturous1.livejournal.com]

I'd noticed that the ring was less than sparkely, seeming to be smudgy with fingerprints and not the dazzling gem one might want to present - even if it is an heirloom stone and set, it should at least be clean. it bugged me, but I forgot. good comparison!!

[saki101.livejournal.com]

I am so pleased you had the same reaction. Perhaps we can ascribe it to John being distracted, to his not seeing what is in front of his eyes, with the ring and with Mary. It would make sense if it was an heirloom and would then be connected through family experience to the idea of marriage. Mid-proposal he stops to think after he says that Mary is the best thing that's happened to him and then he affirms the statement after the pause. These might be clues that John is trying to convince himself of something, is propelling himself in a direction with his eyes half-closed. (Yes, I know, I'm a shameless Johnlock fan.)

[venturous1.livejournal.com]

mee tooo! JohnLock, that is. we know that's his true love.
but brilliant of you to catch that its not a real diamond. now that I know, I can tall, that's why it looks shabby!

[pengke.livejournal.com]

If I was going for a symbolic interpretation of that shot, in the context of that scene; I'd say the shining stone represented Mary- the current bright spot of John's life, and the dark stone represented Sherlock - because he was lurking over John's shoulder still lost to John at that point of the scene, with John as the stone in the center, a bit worn and not quite worthy of the other two.

[saki101.livejournal.com]

Yes, I can see that, too. I like it.

[mai2921.livejournal.com]

I like your idea, yes.