Help...my antique ring is not so antique?

[Tropicana]

Is it possible to have a jeweler do a switch-a-roo on a setting?

Has anyone ever heard of that even? You pick one setting, pick it up, it''s a copy?

This is really important, any help, tips, stories, experiences greatly appreciated as this ring is for an engagement.

 

[Tropicana]

Sorry posted twice.

 

[jewelerman]

need more information to give you a complete answer.Are you afraid that the jeweler showed you amn antique setting and then switched the genuine antique for a replica copy?

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 11/21/2009 2:55:11 AM
Author: jewelerman
need more information to give you a complete answer.Are you afraid that the jeweler showed you amn antique setting and then switched the genuine antique for a replica copy?

Or was it simply a misunderstanding that the ring was a real antique?

And if you''re talking about Fay Cullen by chance they ALWAYS are misleading about what rings are replicas and what are antiques. You need to read their listing very carefully.

 

[LGK]

Many many places sell repro settings as actual antiques, or make the description very misleading. And of course, even people experienced with antiques make mistakes. I know I do!

I've never heard of anybody switching a real antique setting for a copy.

Definitely give us a bit more info and we might be able to help

Here's a few tips for checking out a filigree setting to see if it's an antique or not (not sure that's what you have, but just in case

). Actual antique filigree pieces are die struck. Flip it over and look at the underside. If it's very smooth underneath and very very thin, that is what a die struck piece looks like. They have a lot of detail, and it should be well made- no lumps of metal in weird places, or places where there should be a little opening in the filigree but it's filled with a metal blob instead.

A repro filigree piece is a cast piece. Underneath it looks slightly lumpy and uneven, and thicker than die struck, not smooth. The repros I've seen that are cast pieces made from molds of actual antiques look nice from a few feet away, but if you scrutinize them they are not perfect up close. (Metal blobs filling tiny holes in the filigree, general wonkiness in the shape of the setting.)

Simple solitaire style settings are the hardest to date- there's a lot of good repros of the square-head type of solitaires out there, and since it's such a simple style of setting there aren't a lot of clues to go on as to whether or not it's new or old. Classic solitaires have been around *forever*. The "Harry Winston" type of style with two baguettes on the band are also a style that is incredibly timeless- they looked the same in the '30s as they do today.

 

[Tropicana]

It was for some days to be resized and was cleaned beyond, it''s a solitaire, thin band.
So new ones would have thicker bands even if they are copied?

 

[chrono]

Why would a jeweller try to switch a simple antique band? My guess is that after a real good clean up and polishing, he probably buffed off the patina which can drastically change the appearance of an antique setting making it look practically brand new again, as though it is a different ring. I forgot to ask my jeweller not to repolish my ring after a minor repair, and the poor setting no longer has that antique look even though it was a ring passed down from my great grandparents.

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 11/23/2009 1:32:26 AM
Author: Tropicana
It was for some days to be resized and was cleaned beyond, it's a solitaire, thin band.

So new ones would have thicker bands even if they are copied?

Huh? Can you be more detailed? If it was your ring to begin with I highly doubt they would try to switch it...or is this a ring you saw in their case, "purchased", and now you think they are giving you a different one than the one you originally picked?

Doesn't make much sense either way.

Just probably polished it to a shine which can make it look totally new.

 

[junebug17]

Date: 11/23/2009 1:32:26 AM
Author: Tropicana
It was for some days to be resized and was cleaned beyond, it's a solitaire, thin band.
So new ones would have thicker bands even if they are copied?

I too am a bit confused...what is making you think it could have been switched? I doubt that a reputable jeweler would risk his reputation by switching a setting, though I realize these kinds of things can happen with shady jewelers. But, I don't know, it seems unlikely to me. Does it look different from what you left at the jeweler? If so, what specifically is different about it? I agree with the other posters who suggested the setting was polished, changing the appearance of it somewhat.

 

[ladyciel]

I agree that we need more details to really give you advice.

I will say, though, that switches CAN happen. My poor mother's original wedding band was swapped out on her after over 25 years of marriage. Hers was 18k yellow gold and stamped as such. She gave it to a local jeweler, along with her other rings, to be resized. Well, she noticed a week or so after getting them back that they had given her back a 14k band. The kicker was that their order form detailing the items dropped off was woefully incomplete and did not state, one way or the other, the karat weight of her band. The behavior of the store owner/manager was just despicable - he accused my mother of lying about her ring being 18k, going on and on about how it could never have been mixed up. Well, buddy, if it couldn't have POSSIBLY been an accident, then we can only assume you swapped it to make an extra buck. Without "proof", he refused to even accept there was actually a problem. She was never able to get it back.

She posted a review online telling the story and warning others, and the manager replied to it with all sorts of lies about my mom and what happened. It was disgusting.

I do hope in this case it's a simple issue of your ring being cleaned to a new-looking shine.

 

[LGK]

Date: 11/23/2009 1:32:26 AM
Author: Tropicana
It was for some days to be resized and was cleaned beyond, it''s a solitaire, thin band.
So new ones would have thicker bands even if they are copied?

Nope.

Solitaires with no detailing are pretty tough to date. If this is something that you left with a jeweler to work on and are worried the setting was switched... not terribly likely. I''ve never personally spoken to someone who''s had a *diamond* switched. A setting and not the stone switched? Probably not; I could only conceive of anything like that happening purely by accident, but even that seems farfetched. (If I''m understanding what happened properly...)

Jewelry can definitely look different after polishing, and sizing often removes the stamp inside the band for the gold karat or platinum or whatever.