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

[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!