white gold band

[sass_red_us]

Hi all.

I am new to this site and am looking for some information. I have a white gold band (was my mother''s) that I used and made it into my engagement ring (using grandma''s diamonds) On the inside of the band is 14k-L. What does that mean? the 14k is obvious, and to think all this started because I had never heard of "dipping" which I haven''t had to do. Any comments would be appreciated.

 

[monarch64]

-L doesn''t ring a bell with me...could it be a special initial to your mom that she had engraved when the ring was made originally? Otherwise, I have no idea. typically when jewelers design rings i think they put their trademark on the opposite side of where the symbol denoting what metal weight used to make the ring is...maybe ask your mom if she requested the -L to be engraved?

 

[sass_red_us]

Thanks for the input, would love to ask mom but that would be difficult since she is deceased, I guess I could ask a psychic.

I did wonder if it was a jewelers mark or a reference of some kind to other alloys used to make the ring.

 

[pyramid]

Could it be Lined or Laminated or Ladies? Just a guess.

 

[monarch64]

Pyramid''s suggestion of the L possibly denoting "ladies" is a good one, maybe another expert will chime in here so we can figure this out!

 

[Manmountain]

It appears to be the makers mark. In the US, a makers mark is required in jewelry that is stamped with a quality mark. In the past, the only suffixes to a karat mark (other than the makers mark)that I have seen are GF, HGE and P. Those are gold filled, heavy gold electroplate and plumb.

 

[sass_red_us]

WOW, THANKS FOR ALL THE INPUT. I KINDA FIGURED IT WAS A MAKERS MARK. SO ANOTHER QUESTION, WHY SUCH A PROBLEM WITH WHITE GOLD JEWELERY AND HAVING TO HAVE THEM REDIPPED? IS IT BECAUSE JEWELERS USE CHEAPER METALS/ALLOYS NOW VERUS 10-20 YEARS AGO?

 

[Stone Hunter]

Date: 6/16/2007 4:09:39 PM
Author: sass_red_us
WOW, THANKS FOR ALL THE INPUT. I KINDA FIGURED IT WAS A MAKERS MARK. SO ANOTHER QUESTION, WHY SUCH A PROBLEM WITH WHITE GOLD JEWELERY AND HAVING TO HAVE THEM REDIPPED? IS IT BECAUSE JEWELERS USE CHEAPER METALS/ALLOYS NOW VERUS 10-20 YEARS AGO?

I''ve asked this question before. My wedding ring doesn''t get dipped. It''s just fine, so''s my MIL''s.

So either the metals in the alloy or the proportions are different. OR the metals don''t react with my skin the way they do with other people.

HTH