Cracked stone in Grandmother''s Ring!

[hgau999]

I’m going to take my grandmother’s ring, which has 8 stones surrounding a slightly larger one in the center to a B&M shop this weekend. My mother was taking it out to show me and I noticed a big crack in the center stone. Now that I’ve learned so much from this site I can tell that the stones are quite poorly cut. I was thinking about having just the center stone replaced with an ideal cut H/I, VS2/SI1. Anybody think this will be to over powering for the other stones? The band on the ring looks like yellow gold but the basket could be white gold. I was thinking to have it rhodium plated as well. Do you think this is worth doing to an antique ring? Also would a shallower stone with a large table percentage (57% – 59%) look better? I’ll try to post some pictures of the ring when I get home tonight.

 

[chrono]

Have you considered an Old European Cut diamond to replace the broken stone? OECs were cut during your grandmother''s time and will fit in with the look of the current setting and the sidestones.

 

[hgau999]

Oh.. Never thought about it being an older style cut. Maybe that''s why it looks a little different. Do you know of any links of old OEC stones?

 

[chrono]

The above is a picture of my old cut stone. If you have an jewellery antiques dealer near, that will be a good place to start your search. If you willing to work long distance, Ari at www.singlestone.com (someplace in CA) deals exclusively in old cut diamonds and settings.

 

[hgau999]

Wow looks nice, Chrono. I can''t tell if what my grandmother''s diamonds are. They look like regular RB''s.

 

[hgau999]

here''s another...

 

[chrono]

Can you take a close up picture of just the centerstone from the top view? Right down the table, just as my picture is showing. This way, I'll be better able to see the facet pattern enough to guess if it is a modern RB (maybe 60/60), OEC or transition cut. I really can't tell from the angled shot.

Here's another helpful tip to guess what you might have: does the stone have a "hole" in the middle? Mine has a small/medium culet so it looks like a dark hole in the picture. Modern stones have pointed culets so it shows up as a tiny dot whereas almost all old cuts have medium to large culets.

 

[hgau999]

Just got back from the jeweler and he confirmed that the center stone was an OEC but the surrounding stones are a mix of RB and OEC. Unfortunately he said the prongs have been worned down too thin and suggest to leave it as is. Mom''s a little disappointed because she won''t be able to wear it (superstitious).