1772 AD (1186 Hegira"). A silver ring with strong shank of circular cross-section, at the transition with the bezel plate four knobs shaped like pearls on each side, on the bezel mounted a carnelian stone with incised the name of the Sultan Mustafa III (1754-1774 AD) and the date 1186 of the Hegira Calendar (1772 AD"). Cfr. BKG Yayinari, Imperial Ottoman Jewellery - Reading History through jewellery, Istanbul, 2015. 21.37 grams, 27.44mm overall, 19.14mm internal diameter (approximate size British S, USA 9, Europe 20, Japan 19) (1"). Property of a London gentleman; from his private collection formed before 2000. Son of Sultan Ahmed III (1703-1730), Mustafa III was an energetic and intelligent ruler and sought to modernise the army and state apparatus of the empire to bring it back to the levels of the Western European powers. The Ottoman Empire, however, had entered a phase of unstoppable decline and any attempt at reform proved useless and insufficient: moreover, the powerful Janissaries and the Imams were opposed to reforms of the state administration and were always ready to threaten revolts. However, Mustafa III secured the services of foreign generals to initiate a reform of the army's infantry and artillery. The sultan also established academies for mathematics, navigation and science, and had the Laleli camii mosque built. [No Reserve]