Great Grandma's ring

[EmAnuhea]

Hello everyone! I recently inherited some jewelry when my 96 year old grandmother passed away. One of the pieces was a well-loved ring which my grandmother had said was her mother's wedding ring. I adore this piece of jewelry because of where it came from, and I love the design as well. However, I KNOW NOTHING about jewelry and so I am hoping you kind people will offer me some advice.
I am going to Denver in a couple weeks and I am thinking I should take the ring to a jeweler there to have it...what? I don't know what I should do to it. It certainly looks like it could use a cleaning, and I'd like to make sure the settings are tight, but is there anything else I should have done to it while I'm up there? Ideally I'd like to wear it.
Also, does anyone have any general knowledge they could offer me about this ring? The only marking I can see is a 10K stamp. My great grandparents were working class people with 8 kids, so I can't imagine this ring being terribly valuable. And I don't know if this was a ring handed down to them, bought when they were married, or bought later in life, so not much help there. Any guesses on the era it was made? I wasn't planning on appraising it (again, probably not worth much) but is there another reason I should?
Any help would be greatly appreciated! Mahalo!

 

[MRBXXXFVVS1]

Beautiful ring and story!

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

First up my sincere condolences on the passing of your gran

But its wonderful she left you this ring
i have my grandma's ER and it helps me feel close to her

Yes a clean and a health check (and any necessary repairs) is the best idea, then get it sized to fit the finger you want to wear it on
then get it valued for insurence
Although a family ring like this with its history is irresplaveable - in my humble and overly sentimental opinion a ring like this isnt about the money (although its a nice bonus if it is worth a few bob) its overwhelming value is in all the love and history of your family

I also inherited my great grandma's wedding ring - a lady i knew nothing about - i even had to reaserch her name -( i had to use Ancestry.com) but it was really nice finding out things about her and great grandad

Just on that
.....no time like the present
Do you want this to become a family heirloom?
Might be nice to jot a few things down about your great grandparents for the next person in your family who will wear their ring
Im going to have the original wedding date and their initials engraved inside mine


Also the valuation will tell you heaps about the ring too

 

[EmAnuhea]

First up my sincere condolences on the passing of your gran
...

Also the valuation will tell you heaps about the ring too

Thank you for your condolences <3

That's a good point, the value of the ring would give me more background info. And I love the ides of putting together some history to pass down with the ring!

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Thank you for your condolences <3

That's a good point, the value of the ring would give me more background info. And I love the ides of putting together some history to pass down with the ring!

Your great grandma's ring is beautiful
I wish you knew more about it
8 children
Chances are money would not have been overflowing in that house
My grandma's ER is very small by PS standards (but evidently my mother often wore it in place of her own much larger ER)
My grandparents delayed getting married because of the great depression, he had to go to war before my mum was born
My grandad was a tradesmen in a factory
i think about how hard it must have been to save for what is still (by non-PS but middle class NZ stds) a rather nice ring
i think about my grandma going to work (she worked on the lace counter in a dept store) and showing her workmates her ER, or her sisters, sitting outside in the sun making it twinkle because these old ladies were once fun & pretty young things too
i bet your great grandma had a lot of fun with her/ your ring

Please shear everything you find out about it

I had no idea my mum even had Grandma's ER or her grandma's wedding ring
it was a complete surprise to be bequeathed them

Your ring looks really beautiful on your hand
Like its found its home again

 

[MollyMalone]

Oh what a lovely ring -- how wonderful for you to have such a special memento from your grandmother (and great-grandmother)!

Neil Beaty, a PS Trade member who posts here under @denverappraiser, is a well regarded, independent appraiser in (you guessed it) Denver... well, more precisely, he's now in the Denver suburb of Arvada. You'll see from this page on his American Gem Registry website that he was formerly a goldsmith who fabricated and repaired jewelry.

Neil Beaty GG, ICGA - American Gem Registry

.Neil Beaty is Denver Colorado's most respected Diamond, Gem and Jewelry appraisers. Diamond Appraisal and experty witness.

americangemregistry.com

And if you've read his posts here on PS, you know how nice and helpful he is. In short, I think he would be the perfect person for you to consult! Even before taking the ring to a jeweler (Neil may be able to recommend some "benches" to you), so that you can confidently have an objective, informed sense of what work should-could be done, and how.

Odds are that it's not a ring you'd decide to insure as it's quite likely to be a faux stone & the ring's value to you is not one that can be measured in dollars and cents, i.e., if it were lost or stolen, nothing could replace it in your heart. But I still think it would be worthwhile for you to meet with him.

 

[EmAnuhea]

@MollyMalone Thank you for for the recommendation! Very helpful lead