Featured gemstone, glass or plastic?

dear all

mostly shaky hand photos but some turn out ok.
any idea what they are? 50s? 60s? 70s?
only the first 2 rings are gold bands with marks.
jewellery is not my thing, but the little clear stone/glass i like because it has this blueish tinge when you move it in the light.

regards
phaik hooi

 

I'll get this started, but others with more knowledge will come along any minute now.

First one I think is probably glass, judging by size & color (& your not mentioning that you paid a lot for any of them). I have several rings of low grade gold with very attractive colored glass 'stones'. It was not uncommon, when gold was cheaper. Seems to have been a 50s - early 60s thing.

The nearly colorless stone that has a blue tinge looks to me like a moonstone, probably genuine.

The brown cabochon looks like genuine tigers eye.

The last one is meant to look like turquoise, which is sometimes faked by dying other stones, such as howlite. Guessing it is stone, low quality of setting suggests not a good one. Maybe someone with a better eye for turquoise will render a more informed opinion.

 

The first two rings are beautiful. Do you know what the gold fineness is?
The first one is 1950s in style, possibly even late 40s, the stone could be a synthetic gemstone. The gold decoration isn't solid, which also makes me think this is not a real stone. I love the style.
The second one has a moonstone, as Bronwen said. It is a bit older than the first one, probably 1930s. A little beauty.
The other two are pretty bling, both with fake stones. The tiger's eye is not real, probably glass. The turquoise looks like plastic.

 

You can test for plastic, tap the stone on your front tooth and then tap known pieces of glass and plastic as a comparison, they feel very different on your tooth. For glass look for bubbles, sometimes they are there, sometimes not. The only way to be sure about it though is to have the stones tested.

 

there is a price tag on the red stone/glass ring, $125, meaning 125 malaysian dollars. malaysia has a similar year-to-year inflation rate as the US, so i used this to calculate: https://www.in2013dollars.com/1950-dollars-in-2017?amount=50
if it was purchased in 1950, MYR1,269 today
1960, MYR1,033 and 1970, MYR788
the price tag could be mainly for the gold ring band, not the stone/glass. no idea about the gold fineness. marks too small and messy to read.

 

all of them feel the same
did a breath test on the red ring, iffy, not conclusive

 

https://www.thespruce.com/what-is-the-meaning-of-moonstone-1274360

i think i may start wearing it

 

Hi Phaik

I've seen the first ring described as a "French Tank Ring" - or as Cartier calls their contemporary version "Tank Française" - don't know why they're called that, but I've always wanted one

Anyhoo - they're generally flared out from the center with hollow or punched settings revealed in the back. More often I see them look more like a "tank," but I think your ruffly one still looks very similar. That could easily be a real stone - ruby??? MY birthstone!

1st Dibs



Catawiki

 

Yes, it is very much like a tank ring of the type seen in Retro jewellery, which is why I dated it 1940s-50s.
There have been tank rings since the tank (military) was introduced in WWI, most of them were very plain, sturdy bandrings. The modern tank rings have that same plain look.
The Retro period made them into those wonderful flamboyant rings, still with a sturdy look. Phaik's ring is more delicate, but definitely the style.

Btw, I always wanted one too.

 

Here's a little bit more info from Ruby Lane

The description is far more interesting than the ring it describes - wow!

 

It is, very evocative of that extremely sad period in history.
The ring is a tank ring, though not as pretty as most. But the shape is already going from a sturdy band towards the Retro tank rings.
The idea behind the Retro tank rings is that they mimic tank tracks. A bit of imagination is needed, but they are wonderful.

 

The first one looks like late 40s/early 50s gold and good question to me too; it might be a tourmaline, but it needs testing. The third one is in the style of a 1950s glass and brass ring. I have several in plain brass with assorted stones.

 

It's hard to tell the quality of the tank - probably is tourmaline, evelyb.

I'd get it to a jeweler ASAP

 

If I had the first two, they would be found deep in my hoard. Or not found. I love moonstones and big chunky rings.

 

As an amateur faceter I can tell you that the first stone has some very well done facets. So well in fact I would doubt the stone was glass. Find a local gemstone club and ask them to do a refractive index test on it to determine what kind of stone it is. The size and colour could make it quite a valuable stone.
Cheers
Stephen

 

It looks like a "fish eye/windowed" synthetic sapphire and probably automated machine cut.

 

When I hear Cartier + Tank, I think of this classic:

http://www.cartier.com/en-us/collec...y3cmW8NlU78U7sc2NLGPKYl0KRiL4zeEaAoN1EALw_wcB

 

Yes, my friend had one in the 70s - I had the gold chains

Did anyone hear about Paul Newman's Rolex going for $17.5 million???

 

Only about $16.5 mil over estimate.

 

RIGHT??