New to OECs and need some guidance

[alene]

After drooling over all the antique stones here, I jumped on the OEC bandwagon and went ebaying and I just got this band. Here's what I know about it so far: the center stone is 4.58mm, the next two are 4mm and the last two are 15-pointers (no measurements given). All stones described as "very high tabled." The total ct weight is estimated between 1.25 and 1.5. Color is G-H and clarity is VS2 for all (all estimated, of course). The ring is described "in excellent condition." It seems there's a prong missing though, so not sure how excellent the condition is. I'd like to reset the stones eventually, so not too concerned with the setting. I should be getting the ring in a few days and I have no idea what I should be doing next. Do I have to take it to an appraiser? Considering that I paid just over $600, it's probably not worth it, is it? Should I just take it to a jeweler? Should it be examined for damages? Is that something I can do myself with a loupe or should someone take a look who knows what to look for? I realize that the color and clarity are probably a few grades lower than described, can I still expect it to be eye clean? Do you think the total weight is estimated correctly? The seller estimated that the stones face up about 20% smaller due to high crowns, is that about right for OECs? Anything else I should be doing with it? I have 3 days to return if it's not as described, so I want to make sure I'm prepared if it arrives. Thanks so much! And here are some vendor's pictures of course.

 

[LibbyLA]

Alene,

Do you have a jeweler that you trust? If so, take the ring to the jeweler and ask some basic questions. I paid about $500 for a similar ring with about a half carat of OECs and I don't think I grossly overpaid for it. There was a missing prong and the seller has agreed to reimburse me for having that repaired.

Don't get cold feet yet! See how you feel once you see the ring. It looks like it will have a lot of bling.

Here's a link to my thread. I paid about $530 including shipping for this and the diamonds are a good bit smaller.

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/five-stone-oec-on-the-way-from-the-uk.173300/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/five-stone-oec-on-the-way-from-the-uk.173300/[/URL]

liz

 

[alene]

Thanks Liz! Your ring is really neat! Have you decided to keep it? It's good to know that the missing prongs can be repaired, I'm not sure my seller would agree to pay for it since it was obvious from the pictures despite the description and it sounds like the price was quite good.

I do have a jeweler I go to for minor work, like repairs and resizing. I imagine he can examine the ring but I have no idea how much he knows about older cuts or if he even has to know that much to tell me what I need to know. I imagine any obvious damage would be apparent to any jeweler? Is there anything else I should ask? I have to let the seller know if I plan to return the ring within 24 hours of receiving, apparently. I certainy hope to keep it though!

 

[vinjewels]

I am with LibbyLA. When I was reading your questions, I was thinking that they were perfect questions for a trusted jeweler or qualified appraiser. Also, some appraisers will only charge a nominal fee for a quality check. Although your jeweler may not be well versed in old stones, he could give you the heads up on possible structural issues with the setting and possible cracks, chips or other issues with the stones that can help you decide. The main thing is that you trust him. He can probably tell you what you need to know structurally so you can make a decision on what is acceptable to you regarding keeping or sending back.
I love your find!

 

[LibbyLA]

Alene,

I should have been able to see the missing prong in the photos of the ring I bought but I didn't see it until after I'd seen the ring and used a loupe on it. Then the missing prong was obvious in the photos. With settings as elaborate as these, missing prongs can get lost in all the photo details.

I pointed out to the seller that the missing prong wasn't mentioned in the description and her immediate response was "Oops!" and an offer to either take the ring back or have it repaired and they'd pay shipping both ways. I asked if she'd be willing to reimburse me for having it fixed here and she gave me an amount limit.

Yes, I'm keeping the ring. It's in for repair and resizing now. I hope I'll get it back Thursday but I'm not counting on it. My jeweler doesn't have a laser welder so he hands off that sort of work to someone who lives an hour away. I don't know how many times they see each other a week, but it's not every day.

liz

 

[alene]

Thanks again! I'll be taking the ring and all my questions to the jeweler as soon as I get it. Will keep you posted.

 

[Dreamer_D]

When I get something like that the first thing I do is clean it with dish soap and a soft baby toothbrush and hot water. Give it a good soak.

Then I look at it with my eyes and my loupe to decide if I like it and think the stones are pretty! Are the culets centered, are there any inclusions I can see with my eyes, do they look well matched in color for my taste, from the side, are the crown heights similar enough for my taste. I wear it around, do all the stones seem to be bright, when I move my hand around do they all seem lively or do one or more stones have dead areas?

If it passes those tests then it means I want to keep it, so I will then use my calipers to check the millimeter spread of each stone to see if they are close to what the vendor said. I do not concern myself with carat weight with small old cuts like that as a general rule, since when mounted you can't judge it anyways. ETA: I would weigh the stones when they are loose, but for decided to keep or not, measurements are what matter.

I also compare the stones to others I own with lab reports to get a sense of body color. If they face up white then I know they are likely near colorless range or J-K. If they have a noticable warmth then most likely they are in the L-M range. But with stones that size it is not really that important ETA: because it won't affect price much. Prettiness and sparkle matters more, and matching.

A nice jeweler can help you with those last two things if you don't have your own calipers or comparison stones.

 

[alene]

Thank you Dreamer! This is super helpful! I'm going to be following your post step by step when I get the ring. Hopefully, will be back soon with an update.

 

[alene]

Well, the ring arrived today and after giving it a good soak, I examined it closely with a loupe. The good news is - the stones ara all clean, I can't find any inclusions at all. They look quite white also, face up I don't see any tint next to my GIA I-colored one. The look nice under the magnfiying glass, all have nice open culets and are quite sparkly. Now for the bad - one of the side stones is noticeably smaller than its counterpart on the other side, not sure if it's enough to bother me though. I'm pretty sure I can see a tiny chip on the girdle of one of the smaller stones, not sure how bad it is. One of the stones is not quite as high-crowned as the rest and also not quite as sparkly. The setting has two broken prongs and is actually quite ugly, the prongs are huge and just swallow up the smaller stones. I let the seller know about the issues but I'll be taking the ring to the jeweler tomorrow and will see what he has to say. I really like it overall, just concerned about the damage mostly.

Also, and this is in no way the ring's fault, I apparently can't use my digital callipers right. I'm getting a different reading every time I try to measure the stones. Not sure what I'm doing wrong.