Featured What's up with this garnet ring? Austro-hungarian???

I haven't gotten to testing the gold content yet, but I'm fairly sure that's what it is. The ring was sized at some point, and I think they cut out whatever marks it had. The stones are garnets, but I'm trying to figure out ... how old this is, where it came from, and what's up with that silver disk in the back. In really old pieces they used silver to set off diamonds and other fancy stones because no one had platinum or white gold yet. But... who'd bother to do that to garnets?

 

It's sized down to a 3.75 - a little tight on my pinkie.

 

The photos are too out of focus to see what the ring is. The "silver" disk is a washer to keep the flower/prong setting from moving when the post for the setting was riveted/burnished.

 

Looks like a gorgeous ring, evelyb. There is nothing that suggests Austro-Hungarian to me though. Both Bohemian and Indian garnets were traded all over the world for centuries.
I agree, the silver is just there for 'construction' purposes.

But like Holly I have a little trouble seeing what the ring actually looks like. Could you just put it down somewhere and not photograph through a loupe? And a little more light, please. Just as you would normally look at it, without a loupe.
(I know, we joolies always have a loupe at the ready, that's our 'normal'.)

 

I'll take another crack at it.

 

Here goes. I did use my 10x rug magnifier for some of the shots; it seems to work better.

 

Hi,
Pretty ring I love it setting in the Queen Mary candlestick!!!!
greg

 

Greg, you are such a glassie

 

He's hopeless. (LOL) Then again look who's talking. I found one of Greg's urns today. Unfortunately it was green instead of the black. Dagnabbit. The black one would have been paid and out the door so fast it would make your head spin, but the green ... not fishing any green out for it.

 

Tiny ring, but OH, SO PRETTY!!!!!!!!!!

 

It certainly is beautiful.
The style doesn't look European. I think it is an Asian made ring, Middle East or southern rim of Asia. Someone preferred a nice piece of jewellery as a memento of a trip to gaudy souvenirs.

 

It does test as 14k or thereabouts if that's any clue. 18k goes right through, but the 14k just sits there. I guess it could be 15k too for that matter. I'd think an Asian ring would have a higher gold content, unless it was just made for some dumb tourist who didn't know better.

 

Depends on the country.

Uhmmm.

 

India and environs might make sense - 20k for the locals, 14k for the farenghi.

 

India is also garnet mad. They have a similar garnet colour range as Bohemia.

They are now introducing a good marking system because of all their international jewellery trade. They want to join the International Hallmarking Convention, which was set up by several European countries but is expanding outside Europe.

 

Sounds like a good idea to me! When you make as much jewelry as India does and you're known for it, having a hallmarking system can only help make exports easier.

 

Update: the house the ring came from had a clean-out sale today with the stuff that didn't move. I don't think anyone else got there before me. How that happened I'll never know, but Thank You God! I asked about the ring and the verdict was (drumroll) Grandma picked it up somewhere and that's all they knew.

I'm starting to wonder if it's not Persian.

 

I'm not sure what is going on with the ring, it looks like there may be at least 8 solder joints on the shank.

 

Someone elsewhere suggested it might not have started life as a ring. I think it did, but if it's Asian ... well, you never know what them Asian goldsmiths'll get up to.(LOL)

 

Then again, I have never seen a silver backing construction on Asian jewellery.
I now think southern Europe. Italy or Spain maybe?
It certainly doesn't resemble any Persian jewellery I know.