Could these be rose-cut diamonds? (plus hallmark help)

I may also need some assertiveness training

 

Don't we all, quirkygirl, don't we all.

I am willing to bet we have all been there at one time or another.

 

Diamonds are VERY hard -- so a grinder shouldn't make a mark, but I don't how comfortable I would be with someone using a grinder myself!

Here's google images for "antique rose cut diamond" -- https://www.google.ca/search?q=rose...&tbm=isch&q=antique+rose+cut+diamond&imgdii=_

 

Sometimes free help isn't worth the cost

 

I bought an Edwardian 14K amethyst drop necklace on time. I took it to a jeweler and he advised that it was an extremely nice piece. The amethyst was old and a very lovely tone. I took it to a shop that buys gold and he said that he would buy it for $75. I told him no. I was in a bind, money wise, so I had to sell it for $300. The money helped out tremendously, but I now wish I would of kept it

 

The Philadelphia Art Museum may be able to help you find the right person.

 

A Philistine! Run, don't walk, away from that man and NEVER take anything to him again. No wonder he doesn't charge you. He's an imbecile and knows it. Yikes. Sorry. I hope he's not a friend, but he surely isn't an expert. If he treats antique jewelry like this, I wouldn't trust him with anything else.

 

I had an antique flintlock appraised at two different gun shops. Both gave it a cursory examination and said it was a repro worth a couple of hundred. The second shop offered me $350. I decided to keep it. Recently, a real expert examined it and told me it's from 1772 and worth thousands. I put it in my safe deposit box for my grandson. The moral to this story is, if you get an appraisal, don't sell it to the person doing the appraising. Too many sharks out there.

 

Good job with the close up messi..

Yes those are hebrew letters....
My tired old eyes see a LA-MED or GIMELL....and a BEIGHT...
over a 2 , & surrounded by a wreath !

Remember I'm reading them right to left !

 

A puzzlement to be sure. I could have sworn I was seeing Hebrew too, but what would Hebrew markings be doing on something that old?

 

Okay, I sounded the alarm on "grinder" echoed by many, but was having coffee with a physicist today and told him the story about the grinder and the old diamonds and thought I'd share it. Expecting a big reaction, he barely looked up when I told him that the jeweler took a grinder to the diamonds!!! I said, but wouldn't the grinder possibly scratch the diamond ....especially if it was as old as 18th century?

Physics: "Nothing is harder than a diamond. It couldn't scratch it."

But added, it would only be destructive if they weren't diamonds.

Now guessing the jeweler had a solid feeling they were diamonds, just wanted to confirm it in a way he's been using all his life.

So I said, buy why wouldn't you just use one of those super inexpensive diamond testers, and he said, "If you are used to testing something a certain way, you have a level of certainty that you don't have with a different method."

But then the coffee started getting my mind going, and I had what I thought was an amazing question:

If diamonds are the hardest substance known on the planet, then how can you cut them?

(With other diamonds.)

P.S. Probably best in any event to find someone who knows more about truly old jewelry.

 

Mostly you don't cut them. You take a little chisel and after careful study,you hit the diamond and break a bit off. Then you use diamond dust to polish the face.

Some things are very hard, but they can also be very brittle, especially if they are crystals, which have fracture planes, and that's the point your physicist should have remembered. Who has not seen a diamond ring with a chipped stone in it. Hit them right and they'll shatter.

It seems to me, as an afterthought, that given the frail looking old mounts on that piece, there was a chance of the mount breaking and the diamond whizzing into the distance, and also the chance of a slip grinding the mount or frame.

 

Well, I guess maybe he was talking about the likelihood of it getting scratched which was zero if it was a diamond. (But did say he wouldn't have used a grinder either.)

 

Also, thanks AF for the clarification!

This is what I come here for -- to learn!

 

I understand that the jeweler would have known that a diamond wouldn't be harmed by what he was doing. But what if it had not been a diamond, and you wanted it in any case? I'm glad that didn't happen, but your property would have been damaged.

 

I just have to say in his defense that he does run sort of an old-fashioned jewelry repair business and had already confirmed visually that they were diamonds.

My husband and I felt that he seemed generally unimpressed with the piece for some reason ... maybe because it doesn't show fine workmanship like he's used to seeing ... maybe he was having a bad day.

He only decided to crank up the hand-held rotary tool with a grinding wheel on it (not a big bench grinder) after I told him I got the piece for $10.00 at an estate sale. He has never ever attempted to grind any other diamond that I've taken him (which in itself, is a rarity).

While he does get a bit excited when he's redesigning or rebuilding things for me ... He's pretty mechanical when it comes to testing the pieces. I have even asked him to charge me for testing, but he refuses.

Anyhow ... I've found a place that deals in antique jewelry close by ... after the annual autumnal gorging is over, I will swing by and give her a visit to see what she thinks about the piece.

 

So, it sounds like he realized that perhaps you didn't really mind if it would have been damaged ... that's good. Now, it will be interesting to see what the other jeweler says!

 

Just remember to report back. Natural pearls and a Hebrew mark make me wonder for sure.

 

Keep yer eye on the chop mark.....his piece may be older than you think.
The hebrew alphabet has been around a long time...even the modern version was used back in the 18 th century.

 

Grinder? Sounds more like he used a dremel? Either way,WOW,there ARE better ways to test LOL.

Congrats on the stones being genuine