How / Where to find out more about antique jewelry / stones

[morkus64]

I got this off ebay - the ad said OEC, VS1, F Color for the main stone and that the side stones were also OEC. The ring looks great in person, but I'm wondering how to tell when it is from. (The ad just said circa 1900s) Is there any way to tell from the style, or the cuts? The only hallmarks inside are 14k for the yellow gold and 18K for the white gold.

 

[LGK]

Re: How / Where to find out more about antique jewelry / sto

Most likely late '30s at the earliest, but more likely '40s. The two-tone style with a square illusion head like this was super popular back then. The lack of culet in the center stone also suggests that time period. So it's probably a transitional cut, but it's hard to tell from the pics- could be a later OEC. The side stones are probably single cuts, which is great for tiny melee- more fire and bigger flashes of light IMO.

Two tone settings, or yellow gold in general, was really not common until the '40s. It was out of fashion for decades; the Victorians used it, but from, say, the Edwardian period on, white metal was pretty much the only metal used. So for about 40 solid years there was very little yellow gold used in engagement rings at least. It wasn't really even until the '60s that it became actually popular again.

But this style of two tone illusion setting was really the rage in the '40s.

If it is an F, wow! You don't see many OECs or transitionals that are that high in color. Good find!

 

[morkus64]

Re: How / Where to find out more about antique jewelry / sto

Is there any way to tell for sure? The listing said late Victorian, but I don't know how they came to that decision. Not that it's super important, I'm sure she'll love the ring either way, I'd just like to know.

Are there antique jewelry appraisers? And how would I go about finding one who is legit?

 

[coati]

Re: How / Where to find out more about antique jewelry / sto

Is there any way to tell for sure? The listing said late Victorian, but I don't know how they came to that decision. Not that it's super important, I'm sure she'll love the ring either way, I'd just like to know.

Are there antique jewelry appraisers? And how would I go about finding one who is legit?

Here's our appraiser search https://www.pricescope.com/appraisers.

Sometimes ebay listings are not accurate when it comes to jewelry dating. This ring does not look Victorian to me. I agree with LGK--looks 1940s. The two-tone, the overall design, and the cut of the diamond indicates that period. It's a beautiful ring, and it's just as romantic coming from the 1940s!

Here's a great book on jewelry -history and a great book on the evolution of diamond cutting: American Cut: The First 100 Years for more info. Good luck!