Featured Cameo Ring I would like to know about, kind of unattractive

My sister and I finally decided to do something about the miscellaneous box of jewelry from my mom's house. Nothing of too much value but a few sentimental pieces had to be dealt with.

This cameo ring always looked to me like it was involved in a house fire. The cameo is a dark gray figure of a woman's face from the side. I remember my great aunt wearing it on her pinky. The right side of the woman's face looks a little worn down so I guess she wore it on her right hand. The ring is marked 10K but no other marks.

I don't want to wear it so what should I do with it? Scrap or sell it? I always have a hard time selling something I don't like myself, lol!

 

Sell it! @Bronwen can maybe help with the cameo's material.

Have you tested the stones?

I would take a Q-tip and some white toothpaste to the blackened gold, it should shine it right up

 

No, I'm not a joolie so I don't really know how to do that. I'll tray the toothpaste thing.

I also have an antique bracelet to show you all but I have to photo it first.

 

I'd pop the cameo ?....sell it separate ...and have a jeweller place a nice coloured stone.... amethyst ...topaz, spinel , or even a spiny oyster or coral cab , in there , and you've got an extremely saleable ring... imo

 

That's a good idea. There's a local jeweler with a small shop who could probably do it. And he has the cutest dog that he brings to the shop every day. I told him I'd like to have a dog like his, but they cost about $5000 and up. Cuteness is really expensive.

 

if his dog cost 5 grand...... .. check his price before doing the work!!!

just sayin

 

I could see a lovely opal in that setting. Obviously shes replacing something else. She does have an ancient Roman look to me,but Im often wrong.

 

The lady looks like a lava cameo; I'd nobble the whole thing as it sits and leave be. Lavas have the best carving and IMHO the worst colors in the cameo world. She's been worn early and often. I've never seen one set in a ring before. It might be wise to wait for @PepperAnna and @Bronwen to chime in before touching her.

 

The cameo is lava [as evelyb just added], unusual in a ring & not a very sturdy material to use as a ring stone as it chips & erodes easily. Is that a gouge to the metal in the 4th photo? Does the cameo rattle in the setting?

Have to say, I don't love it myself, and rings that are a smaller size than about a US 6 are a hard sell. It does have a bit of deco flair. Would your great aunt have been an adult by the 20s/30s?

I'm in favor of the gentle cleaning with toothpaste to see what you can make out of the gold & diamonds. A going over with a jewellery wipe & some elbow grease might also yield a good result. In general I advise against getting lava wet because you don't always know what will happen. But I suspect this girl has been dunked before & stayed dark. No reason gold on the outside shouldn't be as bright as inner gold. You may be surprised at how much more appealing she looks brightened up.

Can't hurt to ask the cute dog's owner what options there are to have it altered & what the range of expense is. From what I can see, the cameo could easily be broken out of there; I can't see how it could survive in saleable condtion. Not so sure how easy it would be to replace it with something else.

 

Not so sure how easy it would be to replace it with something else.

ya...it's not a standard size..... that's why I ended ,considering a natural softer material that would be an easier fit than a gem..

 

A pink coral cameo would have been prettier.

 

I like her the way she is.

 

I like the worn and torn look - she's been there done that, and the wear is part of the appeal. Oddly I never liked coral cameos much. The size...pinkie ring. I wear about a 4.5 pinkie ring and I'm not a small person.

 

The metal is not gouged. My photos were a bit disappointing and make the ring look dirtier than it appears in person. The cameo doesn't budge in the setting. A lava Cameo is interesting. I saw a recent post about lava cameos here and thought of this ring. Had been thinking about asking if it was lava.

Yes, she would have been an adult by then. I think she was born in the late 1890s. My grandmother was born in 1896 and she was my great aunt's SIL. The Aunt's fingers were notoriously slim / small, and yes this ring might be a size 5 or 6 which means she didn't wear it on her pinky (now that I think of it, her pinky was about a size 3). I'll try the toothpaste tomorrow and looking forward to how it will look.

 

My great-grandmother, born about 1871, had a cameo that was more like a size 3/4. It's in my sister's safety deposit these days. A size 3 really is tiny.

 

I like her and I like the setting. The small stones are probably diamonds. The wear of the lava indicates that this was a well loved ring. Lava cameos were some of the earliest, dating back to the Romans. Victorians were prolific in their copying of Roman jewelry. My guess is since it's marked 10K and shows minimal wear of the shank that it was made in America in the early 1900's. Have the diamonds (?) tested to verify and put it up for sale on one of the auction sites.

 

You're right, I am probably thinking in "child" terms, more extreme than reality. But my Aunt's fingers looked like skin over bone, no fat at all. And no arthritis, that I remember anyway.

Thank you, that's very good information, especially to have the stones checked.

 

Can you direct me to a source for this information? Perhaps a museum example? Always looking to learn.