goldnsilver
Shiny_Rock
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2020
- Messages
- 250
I was trawling eBay for OMC rings but got distracted (a terrible habit!) by this antique/vintage ring with what looked like an OEC in it, and ended up putting in a bid and coming away with it. I was a bit intrigued as it looked like a 1920s-ish target ring with the 18k yellow shank and "cup" topped with platinum, and platinum stone setting, but the diamond was prong set instead of bezeled as is more usually seen. I thought the platinum rim around the stone looked liked a saint's halo or planetary halo ring.
The prongs looked messy and needing work even in the auction's blurry photos, but the price was ok so I thought I'd give it a chance. The shank is marked "18ct & plat" which isn't too useful except suggesting it's made pre-1975 in the UK - I'm guessing the ring could be 1920s or later. The diamond was described as around 0.5 carat old cut with no further specs, so I'd love to hear your opinions whether it's an OEC and what "type", as I'm still learning about old diamond cuts.
Unfortunately it has a shallow but largish chip or natural(?) on one of the crown facets, in addition to the expected few small nicks or naturals on the girdle. No idea about the colour, but I think there's a tint - except I've no idea what kind - at first I thought it was brown from the seller's photos, but in real life I fancy I can see grey...Also it whitens up considerably in the sun so I wonder if it could have blue fluor (need to get a UV light to verify).
Here are photos. Apologies that it's difficult to take facet pattern photos on smaller stones (@missy could I borrow your model for a day or two? Hehe), and the Northern European overcast sky makes for blurry shots.
The prongs looked messy and needing work even in the auction's blurry photos, but the price was ok so I thought I'd give it a chance. The shank is marked "18ct & plat" which isn't too useful except suggesting it's made pre-1975 in the UK - I'm guessing the ring could be 1920s or later. The diamond was described as around 0.5 carat old cut with no further specs, so I'd love to hear your opinions whether it's an OEC and what "type", as I'm still learning about old diamond cuts.
Unfortunately it has a shallow but largish chip or natural(?) on one of the crown facets, in addition to the expected few small nicks or naturals on the girdle. No idea about the colour, but I think there's a tint - except I've no idea what kind - at first I thought it was brown from the seller's photos, but in real life I fancy I can see grey...Also it whitens up considerably in the sun so I wonder if it could have blue fluor (need to get a UV light to verify).
Here are photos. Apologies that it's difficult to take facet pattern photos on smaller stones (@missy could I borrow your model for a day or two? Hehe), and the Northern European overcast sky makes for blurry shots.
Somehow I find it much harder to appraise things as soon as they are my own. I was initially a bit disappointed with how small the culet is (yes, I love big culets) and I also still find the OEC/transitional spectrum confusing, but after spending a few days with this stone and learning to "read" its patterns, I think I'm beginning to enjoy it.
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