Demantoid(?) & Diamond: New Project

[PreRaphaelite]

Happy Spring!

I’ve been looking for simple diamonds studs to wear to work, but for the longest time couldn’t find what i wanted. Then last week I found this ring, and bought it with the intention of making those everyday studs. It was sold to me as diamond surrounded by "green stones" with the caveat that the green stones were badly worn down on the outer sides of the ring. Fair enough.

So, after a gentle but thorough cleaning, and a peek through the 20x loupe, I suspect they're demantoid garnet and quite decent OMC diamonds. We shall see if I’m delusional or correct, when it goes for appraisal, but in the meantime, three green stones on the right and four green stones on the left are really worn, as you would expect from a ring shaped like this. The color is still intense, but the tops are flattened from those seven stones. The gold holding those particular ones is intact but thinned.

As for the pictures, I did the best I could with my iPhone camera, but since none of them were very crisp, I added a pic of a 2008 auction item that has the same “cluster flower” heads, just for reference.


My questions for the kind souls here are:

1. should the demantoids be replaced during conversion or left as they are (can replacement demantoids be sourced in such a tiny size anyway?);
2. where would you send it to be converted? Single Stone? BGD?;
3. should they become studs, or hook & lever style dangles?

Thanks for your thoughts.
ISG

 

[danielxlin]

Wonderful find. The diamonds look yummy. I would make the diamonds into stud earrings (most versatile for daily wear), then make the green stones into halo earring jackets that the studs could fit into for special occasions. Two part operation:

1) Make the diamond studs now.

2) Consider your replacement/repair options for the green stones over time. You might luckily find some perfectly matching replacement stones if you take your time.

 

[VRBeauty]

What a wonderful find! What are the dementions of the diamond and of each rosette? Which style is right depends a lot on what you're most comfortable wearing. For me personally - I'd lean towards having them converted to studs if the overall size is comparable to, say, not more than a 1.25 ct diamond. Anything larger than that would put it in danglies territory - but again, that's just my preference. You might want to pose the demantoids question in the colored stones forum, but I suspect finding replacement stones is very do-able.

 

[PreRaphaelite]

Hello and thanks for your responses. I'll ask the CS forum if they know of anywhere to find such tiny green bits!

They're small - estimated at 4mm diamonds, and each head only about 7.5mm across. Very small. But I love them I like what you said about the size of the flowers as studs; as dangles, they'd be lost under my hair.

I was excited about the ease of making them studs after looking at the 'undercarriage', as it were, and noticing how delicate the attachment to the shank is. Seems like I could easily to the first 'snip' myself - not that I would dare.

Do you know of a jeweller who specialises in converting antiques?

 

[PreRaphaelite]

danielxlin, thanks so much for that practical advice. In order to fit the green stone surround, the studs would need a ten-prong setting. I couldn't find those on Stuller - do you happen to know if anyone stocks those?
Thanks a million!

 

[VRBeauty]

The galleries are lovely. I hope the jeweler will be able to use them when they make the studs!

While I like danielxlin's idea, you'd have to give up the original galleries to execute it. The center diamonds are about the equivalent of .25 ct each. An alternative would be to keep these rosettes intact, and start saving for a pair of .50 ctw round brilliant studs!

 

[PreRaphaelite]

Thanks for your reply. The galleries (and the shank of the ring) are rose gold, as are the ten prongs that hold the diamonds, but the setting for the demantoids (if that's what they really are) is yellow gold. I really dig the two-tone look!

I don't know of any jeweller in my area that I could trust (I live in podunk) and I had thought to contact BGD or SS or maybe Caysie to see what they thought - it would be such a small project I can't imagine any of them would jump for joy at the prospect. I don't know what it would cost to add little gold posts/backs to them, but surely it's not profitable, and I sort of feel bad about that :-/

As soon as I win the lotto, I'll become a fantastic customer.... to someone. (sigh)

 

[artdecolover71]

If you are already thinking about her as a possibility, then I Would definitely contact Caysie. I have worked with her on big and small projects. love her and she loves vintage pieces.

 

[PreRaphaelite]

Thank you, I think I will contact Caysie. I've seen pics of her work and it is fantastic. I'm sure she could transform the ring into earrings easily, and if she's happy to do it, I'll send her my other diamond projects too.

 

[PreRaphaelite]

Hello,
So... after reading more about the projects people have been happy with, I went ahead and contacted Single Stone about converting the ring into earrings. I emailed asking for a ballpark estimate but was told I'd have to send it in, before they could tell me if the conversion is even possible (!) and what it would cost. I'm pretty trusting but I wanted to check with my PS friends first. Single Stone has such a great reputation - should I send first and ask questions later?

 

[urseberry]

Single Stone does excellent work, but they are very expensive. Another option I'd try is Jewels By Grace. They have a great bench and also do lots of antique conversions. Recently they've done lots of brooch to bangle conversions, which require curving the piece, resetting stones, and adding bangle stems.

 

[PreRaphaelite]

Thanks for suggesting Grace. I did contact her and I'll keep you posted. Wish me luck! This is a ton of fun.

 

[PreRaphaelite]

As a temporary step, I've done this:

 

[minousbijoux]

ISG: those are so lovely. I am curious what makes you think they are demantoid? You mentioned that you looked at the demantoids with magnification; were there inclusions that made you think they were demantoids? You are likely correct in your educated guess, but it could be something else, like chrome diopside, peridot or even, I suppose, glass.

ETA: I love how you are using them as earrings.

 

[PreRaphaelite]

Hi minousbijoux,
Thanks for asking! I love your avatar ring!

I'm obsessed with Art Nouveau and Victorian jewellery, and spend a lot of time looking at pictures of gems of that era. Demantoids were sort of on my mind this spring. So, when I saw the ring in an auction (no, not eBay), I felt that they could be demantoid, but I bid just for the diamonds anyway, so it didn't matter if I was wrong. It still doesn't actually.

When I got them, I used a process of elimination. First, I googled TEN prongs! Then I narrowed it down by researching demantoid in particular, and found this auction listing that shows an exact match in a demantoid & diamond brooch, stamped 1868:



Encouraged, I kept testing. In order to try to rule out glass, I floatation-tested the earrings with a neodymium magnet, to which they were attracted. Since garnet is said to be quite magnetic, that put another notch in the demantoid checklist. They could be peridot since that's also magnetic, but they're the wrong color for it, and peridot doesn't have such inner fire, in my experience. I've never seen a peridot that looks like it's lit from within, as these stones do. I hope that makes sense.

If they're emerald, they're more strongly-colored than I've ever seen in real life. They could be synthetic emerald. I don't have a spectroscope yet, just a 60x UV microscope, but it's on my shopping list, as well as a chelsea filter - although it's said that it will not distinguish between synthetic and natural because... well, chromium versus vanadium, etc., but anyway emeralds don't... feel right, if you see what I mean. They don't have jardin, or color zoning, or 'flat' response to light.

They could be chrome diopside, as the color is very similar, but I was told that diopside wasn't very widely available until about 1988, 100 years or so after the ring was likely made - although I'd love to know if that's incorrect!!

Basically, given the quality of the diamonds (sooooo clear and lively) and the incredibly small size of the green stones (1mm to 1.25mm) it wouldn't be inappropriate to suspect demantoid - they'd be historically accurate, at the very least. If they are demantoid, the color suggests Russian origin - although most of the stones don't show horsetail inclusions. Some of them might, but I'd need 100x to see the inclusion's shape. They're tiny, after all.

Unfortunately, despite contacting three different PS-recommended jewellers, so far no real interest in a project this small (can't blame them). I'd like to have a definitive answer on what they are, but I guess I'll have to live with the mystery of these fiery kelly-green stones - and the dangle style.

Thoughts?

 

[Stone Hunter]

These are lovely!

Sounds like you are having fun with them. I hope you can eventually find a jeweler to alter them for you.

 

[rubybeth]

Just seeing this now. Have you tried contacting David Klass? His e-mail is [email protected]

 

[PreRaphaelite]

So, using approximately 80x magnification, I was able to capture some of the horsetail inclusions. Please let me know what you think.

 

[Gloria27]

InsecureSweetGirl

awesome, good job on your research!

 

[JulieKae]

You could try Yvonne of Cecile Raley Designs, she's converted a TON of vintage pieces for me and could probably find replacement stones for your greens as well and she's reasonable...