Family Ring

[MsSteele]

Hello Everyone.
I''ve been lurking for several weeks and finally decided to join. The forum here has been such a fantastic resource, thank you so much.
I thought I would try to post some pictures of a ring that I inherited from my mother. I hope this works!

 

[MsSteele]

Sorry the pictures are so dim but the setting shows it''s 40 years of daily wear, it need a good cleaning and I was having problems with the sparkles getting in the way, so to speak!
Here''s another one:

 

[MsSteele]

AAAnnnd the last one. Then I''ll post the few specifications that I know about the ring. The two tone ring that it''s posed with is my mom''s wedding ring (she had no engagement ring) a man''s ring from artcarved that the jeweler cut down to fit her.

 

[MsSteele]

Hmm, that one didn't want to go through, let's try it again. Perhaps PS doesn't care for the background? LOL
ETA: as just one example of wear, the decorative carving he did (millifiori?) in the setting around each of the smaller stones is nearly all worn away, and I'm noticing how thin the prong heads are looking, I'll see about getting them repaired in a few weeks.

 

[MsSteele]

Okay. My father had the ring made for my mother in 1972 or so. As I understand it, this white gold setting was one the jeweler already had on hand, and he added the head for the large diamond. You can see where he also changed the "drape" of the diamond ribbon and the angle at which the shank is attached. All in all he did a really good job, but my father was the one who chose the setting and handled the transaction and mom wouldn't have picked out something like this. She did, however, wear it faithfully and did come to appreciate it.
There are 12 stones, the smaller 11 stones are various sizes, weights, and clarities (they range from VS2 to I)that were taken from wedding and fashion rings that my mother, grandmother and great grandmother had collected. Some of the diamonds have been in my family since before 1900.
The large diamond is a .79 round brilliant D VVS1 or VVS2 (in subsequent years by different appraisers) that my father purchased when having the ring made.
It has tons of fire, even in lower light situations it will sparkle like crazy. One thing I've noticed though is that it doesn't take on that lovely white "lit from within" glow that some diamonds have. I wonder, is that a matter of clarity, cut or something else?
In a few years I'm going to have the stones removed and put in a setting that is more to my taste, but I'd like to preserve this setting too. It's big, not old enough to be vintage, not new enough to be modern, but I'd like to keep it in the family, I just can't decide what to put in it. I've thought that it might look pretty with pale yellow stones, but I have a difficult time picturing anything else in the ring. Any suggestions?

I do have one other questions, I like the way the smaller diamonds are set into the setting, what is that called? they're not channel set, they don't share prongs, does anyone know?

Thanks for any and all input!
Enjay

(edited to add my name LOL)

 

[mariel]

I love seeing older designs and hearing about all the history behind them. You are very fortunate to acquire such a nice piece of jewelry most especially since it''s been in your family for a while. I think the smaller diamonds are set pave - maybe someone else can chime in. Enjoy!

 

[Siamese Kitty]

I adore heirlooms and this ring is simply lovely. I really like the detail and the design.

 

[junebug17]

Oh, I think this ring is just beautiful!! what a unique design, and how interesting to see a ring from this time period...I don''t often see examples of jewelry from the 70''s, so cool...thanks for sharing this special family piece, I love it!

 

[yssie]

What a wonderful heirloom piece, you''re very lucky

Wear it in good health!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Pretty set!

My wedding band is an artcarved one, too. It''s not as intricate as your moms. . .do you know what size hers is? I''ve wanted to begin a collection of bands and notice there is a much better selection in mens'' sizes and I wasn''t sure I could get one sized down to my size.

 

[Skippy123]

Very beautiful!!

I am glad you joined Pricescope and Welcome!!

 

[MakingTheGrade]

What lovely details on the ring. I really like heirloom jewelery, there''s always something so sweet about it.

 

[MsSteele]

I'm so glad you all like my mom's ring.
Even though it's not to my taste (truth be told even my mom referred to it as gaudy when I was growing up) I'm quite attached to it. So many memories are punctuated by it's sparkle.
Maikeru- I hadn't thought about pave settings. I'll have to take a close look at a pave ring next time I'm out. Thank you.

I do wish I could wear the ring but mom had tiny fingers. The wedding ring is a size 5 and is 8mm wide, and the cocktail ring was sized up to approximately a 7 when arthritis became an issue, after that the ring would spin on her hand and decorate her palm once it was on her finger. I thought about having it sized up to fit me, but it's still shaped like my mom's finger and I'm not quite ready to let that go.
MC-As for the artcarved ring, Mr. Sheppard did a very good job matching the pattern in the ring as best he could and when he soldered it together you can see where he molded the solder a bit to help blend it in. You do have to look for it but you can find the repair in the carving after two or three times around. If she'd been able to go up a quarter size I think it might have been easier for him to blend but 5 was pushing it even with such a thick band. You'd have to find someone willing to try it, which shouldn't be too difficult with all the wonderful ring artists on here

I thought about it, the setting is pretty solid right now even for it's worn condition and it just sits in my jewelry box, so I think I'll wait until I have the stones removed to have the prongs repaired, the setting replated and the milgrain (I remembered the word! Go me!) re-engraved.

Enjay

 

[MsSteele]

Honestly I think she considered it gaudy because it was so big, the jeweler had to remove the leaf at the tip because it stuck up past her knuckle when she bent her finger! LOL I''ve always thought it was pretty.

 

[AmberGretchen]

That ring is absolutely lovely, and what a special story to go with it

I think your idea of preserving the setting with new stones is lovely. What is your favorite color? I'd take stones in that color, and get different shades, and do graduated shades all along the ring (depending on your taste, the large stone could be the lightest, the darkest, or a contrasting color). I think shades of yellow would be lovely

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

Wonderful pieces--enjoy them!

cheers--Sharon

 

[Luckyeshe]

It''s a beautiful ring! I love seeing older rings for the designs are quite intricate and unique. I love how your family ring sparkles!!

 

[MsSteele]

I am thinking about yellow because my mother''s birth stone was topaz. My favorite color is teal green, but I think it would change the look of the ring too much for me to really enjoy it any more. The other option that I was considering is Moissanite or some of the synthetic brown diamonds.

*sigh* In and of itself the ring doesn''t appeal to me much and I want to put the stones into something I love because they deserve to be worn, yet at the same time I love my memories of the ring and don''t want to "ruin" it by changing it drastically. I also think it would be nice to be able to pass the ring and it''s stories on to my own daughter some day. Perhaps I''m just not ready to let it go, although my mother enthusiastically encouraged me to do as I wished with it when she was still alive. Jewelry can have so many emotions wrapped around it, but I guess that''s what makes it truly precious to us, yes?

 

[reader]

It would be honoring your mom''s wishes by having it reset more to your taste, seeing she was not in love with the setting when she was alive...

Humm, why not stick with a ''floral'' theme and use the teal or green stones for the smaller, and a yellow for the main stone? Colored sapphires might be perfect here.

BTW, my best friend also has the last name of Steele

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Have not read all the posts, but re your ? on the Rocky Talky forum, the setting is a grain or bead set made to appear like a channel setting.
God workshops and CAD designers should have no problem with replicating or making a piece with that type of setting.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Date: 1/1/2010 9:27:37 PM
Author: MsSteele
I am thinking about yellow because my mother''s birth stone was topaz. My favorite color is teal green, but I think it would change the look of the ring too much for me to really enjoy it any more. The other option that I was considering is Moissanite or some of the synthetic brown diamonds.

*sigh* In and of itself the ring doesn''t appeal to me much and I want to put the stones into something I love because they deserve to be worn, yet at the same time I love my memories of the ring and don''t want to ''ruin'' it by changing it drastically. I also think it would be nice to be able to pass the ring and it''s stories on to my own daughter some day. Perhaps I''m just not ready to let it go, although my mother enthusiastically encouraged me to do as I wished with it when she was still alive. Jewelry can have so many emotions wrapped around it, but I guess that''s what makes it truly precious to us, yes?

Natural Brown diamonds are way cheaper than syn brown.
Consider taking parts of the setting with diamonds intact and using them in a new setting - Diamonds can be soldered and worked on with no risk. You can then have white settings on Yellow gold etc

 

[beechezz]

Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful family piece from 1972. It is so interesting and intricate. I bet your mom drew a lot of attention with this ring! Please keep us posted on what you decide to do, of course when you are ready.

 

[MsSteele]

Thank you very much Garry (and everyone else!)
I was worried about what to tell the jeweler when we go to have the ring set with new stones, because it''s likely that they won''t be the person who removes the originals and the setting may not be obvious after they''re removed.

I don''t plan on doing much with it for the next few years as we''re in the process of purchasing an engagement ring and just started saving for the wedding, the resetting project is planned for our five year anniversary and refilling the setting will be done as we can afford it.

Mom''s ring did get a lot of attention, mostly positive, but there was a bit of negative attention too. She worked for the state as an unemployment adjudicator and in some of the programs she worked with she also had more of a social worker position. I remember her telling me she felt so awful, here her clients were, asking for assistance, and there was her big ring. On the other hand, she still loved playing with it. I remember her showing me her best "show off" position, chin on palm, thumb tucked under to waggle the back of the band and make it flash, she said it was best to get your eyes close to your knuckles to aim it at people lol. It was a very Marilynesque move, especially since she was rocking the tousled look that day.