convertible ?

[rlikng]

Anyone came across any design which ring can convert into pendant ?

 

[oldminer]

There used to be a ring/pendant product known as a "Ringdant". The top clipped onto the shank and it converted from a cluster ring into a cluster pendant. I don''t think anyone ever made a solitaire style because the mechanism for holding the top to the shank was sort of bulky. In some pieces, especially some 100 year old ones, you occasionally see threaded components that screw on and off to be used in numerous ways. It isn''t a new thought, but usually hampers a beautiful, sleek appearance of a piece. The extra mechanical parts tend to show.

 

[widget]

I thought I''d post this picture, just for fun: Antique (turn of the century?), ring/brooch/pendant combo.

Rau Antiques has listed it for AGES...I always wonder why it hasn''t sold...

widget

 

[oldminer]

That item is a beautiful one and is a great example of old time workmanship where the piece is not clumsy due to the mechanisms that open and close to attach and detach components.

The reason pieces like this don''t sell fast can be as simple as a high asking price, or being somewhat out of fashion. When that item was new, it was the norm to wear beautiful jewelry on many occasions. How many people would wear such an item on a frequent basis today? How many twenty or thirty year old women would frequently need such an item and prefer it to a new car, a home of their own, or some other modern "need"? You have generations of folks selling such items who had what one might refer to as a "refugee mentality". They, their parents and gradparents valued the liquidity of diamonds and gold as they escaped across borders. Today, all one needs to escape is a Visa credit card and some photo ID.

It is a major change in what people view and valuable and necessary. The face of many businesses are changing. It isn''t just the jewelry business. Things always evolve, but many of us at a bit at a loss for what will be coming at us in the next ten or twenty years.

 

[widget]

Hi Oldminer...that piece has always fascinated me because the attaching mechanism doesn''t look bulky. (I''d love to see pictures of the ring put together)

So...if they can go to the moon, why can''t they design something like this today??

widget

 

[rlikng]

Widget, thanks for your photo. I just bought a Pear ring wondering it would be great if convertible into a pendant.

 

[kriopell]

Check out this item (140096912200) on EBay from Jack Kelly Jewelers in Boca Raton FL. for an idea. It''s also an interesting use of color.

Here is another cool one....this is more contemporary and is made by Wink Jones - Winfield''s:
http://www.winkjones.com/images/ringdant33.jpg