Featured Thoughts on this newer looking 14K ring

Going through a pile of jewelry to sell, and I found this ring. Fairly sure I got it for $1 or something years ago back at a sale. Marked 14K and tests 14K.

To my eye it doesn't look like a super high end piece of jewelry, and I might consider selling it for scrap gold which would be around $100 or so at 3.2 grams. The stone in the middle looks black but when I shine light behind it I get some blue color. Also no idea what the clear stones are... It seems a little mass produced looking, but stop me before I do something dumb. Maybe it was from one of these national jewelry store chains? Any thoughts?






I didn't photograph the 14K mark, no maker's mark on it, it tested definitely positive for 14K.

 

nice ring....if....maybe , it's a sapphire with diamond baguettes .......a jeweller should see it before u scrap it...

 

That's a good suggestion, Komokwa.

 

Lucille, please don't take offense at my desire to scrap the gold and save the stones, sell them to a jeweler. I am not partial to "hollowed" bands, they can be painful on a finger. The wear to this sort of "high" setting is so readily apparent, I would hesitate to sell it because I don't think I could describe it well enough. And then some potential buyer may not want to pay more than scrap value for it anyway... Just my humble opinion.

 

Could be a cheap sapphire, these near black examples are relatively inexpensive. It does look like a modern ring (we call them TV rings after the sales channels). White stones could be diamond and they also commonly use zircons, and white topaz along with cz's.

Rather than scrapping you would probably get a bit more auctioning on ebay even if you put it as stones unknown.

 

I thought about this before responding, but the nowadays climate on ebay seems too peculiar to want to say, no idea what stones these actually are, yes there are numerous damages, after all is said and done and potential for returns, well a hundred dollars scrap and extra stones in hand sound ok to me. Thank you for your viewpoint. Lucille, please let us know if you list it and how you do with it on ebay.

 

Still thinking about the step #2. Ebay definitely has it's drawbacks, takes a cut and you have the concern about returns, etc. But might be the way to go. Depends on what the scrapper would offer. I don't really have anyway I scrap with, but chance I might be in the close by larger city in a week, and a friend of mine wanted to check a place out.

Ring is kind of a larger size for a woman, might be a 9. Plus the band is a tiny bit off in a way. Like it was thinner in one spot and thus bent a bit. I'd want to know more about what the stones were I think, even to list properly on Ebay.

I would not be shocked if this was a T.V. shopping network purchase. There is something about it that looks like corners were cut.

I appreciate the thoughts from everyone.

 

Lucille, you are in the USA, right?

I have a gem tester, if you want to mail it to me I can test the stones for you. I have done this many times for people on the eBay jewelry board. You would send it to me, I will test it and send it right back, the same day or the day after.

Let me know if you would like me to test it, I will message my address to you. If you don't feel comfortable doing that, I understand, just thought I would offer

 

That is super nice, Marie. I should probably have a gem tester... how much do those cost?

Sure, I'll send it over. (Will include return postage.) PM me your address.

 

What a kind offer!.
Marie, you made me an offer like this when I first joined the forum but you also persuaded me I needed to buy my own!. Shame I bought the Mary Contrary ultra flouncy temperamental model but I wouldn’t be without it.
I even remember which piece of jewellery it was, a banded agate Victorian snake brooch, still one of my favourite brooches.
Those baguette stones are very eye catching Lucille.

 

My people

 

there goes the ring..................................,,

 

Just out of curiosity, which model is best? Or which to avoid?

 

https://www.antiquers.com/search/108583039/?q=gem+tester&o=date&c[date]=1563940800&c[title_only]=1

 

I bought the presidium II and very happy with it. The problem with Ebay and jewelry unless it is very unique- There are 10,000 rings or more.

 

I wouldn’t recommend the Presidium PGI handheld one.
It’s so temperamental!
Works/sulks at its leisure. Tests thin air and says it’s glass , randomly refuses to test by saying ‘slip detected’ , won’t work if it’s windy or if I have my feet on the ground ( yes, really, I couldn’t work out why it kept flouncing out of the room until I discovered that if I rest my feet on the wooden bar of the chair it works , on the floor no go).
God forbid you get it near an electronic device or worse still a magnet as she’ll be out of it for days in a darkened room with a cold compress on her forehead.
Temperamental is an understatement. I sent two back before I had one that even vaguely worked. Her only saving grace is that she is dead on with precious gems. Diamonds, Ruby, sapphire, emeralds are her favourite and good with spinel and amethyst. Everything else is ‘meh, here’s a list of 10 options, take your pick’
Now you know why she is called Mary contrary!

 

Make sure that you get a moissanite tester too. They will register diamond also.

 

If recalling correctly, I paid between $200-$300 for the Presidium II via Amazon. But also used credit card points to pay for part of it. I don't recall the original listed cost.

 

I've seen similar styles dated to the 1960's era. The ideal way for helping to date a ring would be the hallmarking or manufacture mark. All that said, the ring does not speak quality to me and I personally would pass on it unless it was well below spot.

Statistically, the stone is probably synthetic sapphire, cheap enough. A good jeweler could tell you if it is earth mined, which can bump the value up depending upon the quality of the stone. The baguette stones could be faux but if it is from the 60's expect them to be diamonds. That said, I think it is a modern bit with faux stones - again, seeing the hallmarking on the band might help flush that out straight away.

A little cleaning and this would probably pop a bit as I can see it is a bit crusty. If you have a 10x loop, after a good cleaning, you could check the stones for inclusions. If present, you have a good indication they are earth mined. This applies to all the stones. Synthetic stones are almost always without imperfections and usually have patterns in them under magnification that scream synthetic.

A presidium is an ideal working tool. I also recommend a high-powered microscope. If you have the cash for getting into the weeds of a stone. If you buy precious metals like this regularly, owning a Niton XL2 is a bonus. I don't own one because that is way too much cash for me but am fortunate to have become friends with the owner of a business that has one, as they can help you ferret out bits you would think are costume that turn out to be the real deal.

Cheers

 

High power monocular scopes (ie 100x plus) are not very good for stones or jewellery. A modest power binocular is better with a 10-40x kind of range. The one I use is 7.5-70x and I rarely use it above 20. Most used range is 7.5-10, due to the field of view it is leaps ahead of a 10x loupe in terms of visuals.