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Antique Art Deco Emerald Ring Help!!!

tessaroni3

Rough_Rock
Joined
Dec 2, 2020
Messages
5
Hi there! My name is Tess, and I have decided to buy myself my first piece of "real" jewelry!!!! YAY!!! I want it to include emerald, my birthstone, and I want it to be antique, preferably art deco. I have done a ton of looking at rings, but I don't know the first thing about them or the lingo. I have fallen in love with the way the look of old camphor glass rings, with the little diamond set in the center. I have been looking for a variation of this with emerald, but I don't think it exists! What is it called when the diamond is placed in the center? How do I even search this? What would it take/cost to get one of these little diamonds replaced with emerald? Any help is welcome, even if you want to make fun of how little I know about this stuff. ;-) Thank you for your time!!! I attached some pictures for examples of what I'm looking at
 

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Bron357

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jan 22, 2014
Messages
6,532
Hi,
The Camphor glass pendants / rings started in the Victorian period, as a type of mourning jewellery, along with Jet (black), being colourless glass or rock crystal it was deemed modest and appropriate. Seen as modest jewellery it was most often in base metal or silver (gold pieces are the exception rather than the rule).
generally the style is considered more Victorian / Art Nouveau ie 1890 through 1925 ish, especially with filigree work which is not typical Art Deco design.
the style had a reoccurrence in the 1970s so it can be difficult to judge whether you have an original piece or a modern reproduction of the style.
If gem set, often a wee diamond though marcasite was also a popular embellishment.
Depending on the condition of the ring and the type of mount holding a gem / gems it is possible you can replace what’s there with an emerald however the expense might be more than you wish to spend.
 

kgizo

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Dec 14, 2009
Messages
2,603
You may want to check out the Antique & Vintage Jewelry forum‘s recommended vendors thread for additional search options.
 

tessaroni3

Rough_Rock
Joined
Dec 2, 2020
Messages
5
Hi,
The Camphor glass pendants / rings started in the Victorian period, as a type of mourning jewellery, along with Jet (black), being colourless glass or rock crystal it was deemed modest and appropriate. Seen as modest jewellery it was most often in base metal or silver (gold pieces are the exception rather than the rule).
generally the style is considered more Victorian / Art Nouveau ie 1890 through 1925 ish, especially with filigree work which is not typical Art Deco design.
the style had a reoccurrence in the 1970s so it can be difficult to judge whether you have an original piece or a modern reproduction of the style.
If gem set, often a wee diamond though marcasite was also a popular embellishment.
Depending on the condition of the ring and the type of mount holding a gem / gems it is possible you can replace what’s there with an emerald however the expense might be more than you wish to spend.

How cool!!! Thank you for this insight.
 

oldminer

Ideal_Rock
Trade
Joined
Sep 3, 2000
Messages
6,691
Many or most of these items have a colorless quartz, rock crystal, center rather than glass. The one on the right likely is an amethyst, also quartz, but purplish. You can find an item you like set with a diamond and most jewelry repair folks can easily enough pop out the diamond and set a same size little emerald or even an imitation emerald into the same plate. It does not need to be a costly operation. If you want to control the costs and get just a bright pretty intense green faceted stone in place of the little diamond, a synthetic green spinel birthstone might be a very good substitute. A nice little emerald isn't all that costly, but it won't have the sparkle of a green spinel unless it is a very good one. You might also like a tiny tsavorite instead of an emerald. These have great color intensity and sparkle and also are durable, just like the spinel, where emerald is somewhat more fragile.

If you want a somewhat larger emerald, or other gem, put in the center, the hole in these stones can be drilled larger by a lapidist and a jewelers can make a larger tube and bezel or bead setting plate to hold an increased size stone. Like most jewelry, you can spend as much as you want.

:cool2:
 

tessaroni3

Rough_Rock
Joined
Dec 2, 2020
Messages
5
Many or most of these items have a colorless quartz, rock crystal, center rather than glass. The one on the right likely is an amethyst, also quartz, but purplish. You can find an item you like set with a diamond and most jewelry repair folks can easily enough pop out the diamond and set a same size little emerald or even an imitation emerald into the same plate. It does not need to be a costly operation. If you want to control the costs and get just a bright pretty intense green faceted stone in place of the little diamond, a synthetic green spinel birthstone might be a very good substitute. A nice little emerald isn't all that costly, but it won't have the sparkle of a green spinel unless it is a very good one. You might also like a tiny tsavorite instead of an emerald. These have great color intensity and sparkle and also are durable, just like the spinel, where emerald is somewhat more fragile.

If you want a somewhat larger emerald, or other gem, put in the center, the hole in these stones can be drilled larger by a lapidist and a jewelers can make a larger tube and bezel or bead setting plate to hold an increased size stone. Like most jewelry, you can spend as much as you want.

:cool2:

Awesome. Great insight. Thank you so much!
 
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