A ring with bad juju?

[FlashyFlamingo]

Do you all ever think about who wore your jewelry before you? Every now and then I’ll think it’s nice that this piece brought joy to someone else and is now bringing joy to me, but that’s about the extent of it. I’ve never been one to believe that jewelry has bad juju.

All that to say, I might have changed my opinion on this. I’ve purchased antique settings several times from a vendor on eBay. I had one in my cart and I went back to read the description again to get the sizing for the center stone.

Then I remembered this vendor is in Argentina. The wheels in my head started spinning. I remembered taking a class about art during WWII and a lot of it was taken with Nazi officers who ended up in Argentina. Now all I can think of is that this ring probably belonged to a woman who had it ripped from her finger on her way to a concentration camp or a Nazi officer’s wife. That’s too much possible bad juju for me! Have you ever been dissuaded from buying a piece of jewelry because you thought about where it might have come from?

 

[stracci2000]

This is very interesting. I agree with your thinking that this ring may have been brought to Argentina after the war by someone who acquired it unscrupulously.

I knew an older woman who wore a 3.5 ct MRB. It was purchased in Germany in 1970 by her husband when they were stationed there.
Every time I saw her, I took her hand and lusted over that thing.
But I couldn't help thinking that it may have once belonged to a wealthy Jewish woman, and that it was Nazi spoils from WWII.

 

[JPie]

I would also be uncomfortable with the provenance of a ring if there were possible connections to Nazis.

I have a pair of early Victorian earrings that were supposedly owned by one family before me. They fled the Germans in WWII and ended up in the US. I often wonder what happened in the last few years that would make the family sell such a precious heirloom.

 

[lyra]

I have never thought of this before. Although I don't believe in bad juju in general, I wouldn't want to take a chance on bad provenance for moral reasons. But honestly, we just never really know with vintage.

 

[joelly]

Hubby and I don’t buy vintage for this reason. Lots of our friends are holocaust survivors.