Metals used in old jewelry

[that_someone_special]

I won a cute little OEC/ transitional off of ebay

When I got the ring, the white part of the setting (the top) was very grayish and "dirty looking" while the yellow gold shank was bright and shiny. So, I cleaned it like I would silver with a little cloth and the white metal is now brighter! The cloth is black. lol


Ok so was it pretty common to have silver and gold rings? It was sold as a .35 OMC, but it is cut pretty shallow and wide so I highly doubt it. It is also pretty symmetrical and does NOT resemble an OMC.

 

[Cinna]

I am not very knowledgeable about vintage pieces but from what I've gleaned of the internet:

I've seen multi-toned rings and heard that it was not uncommon to use white gold/ yellow gold as the setting for the ring but then mount then the top part, where they mount the stones they used palladium. (Or possibly in your case a different metal)
Although this is what I've heard of some vintage pieces I'm not sure it's entirely true. Maybe someone will either confirm or refute that.

 

[stci]

You can find a lot of different metals in a ring. The most the ring is old, the most you will find this type of mix.

 

[sphenequeen]

Silver-topped gold was predominantly used before the turn of the last century. If your stone does not resemble on OMC (get verification on this as not all OMCs are deep), that does not mean that the diamond was not replaced at one point in time.

Best of luck in your research and congrats on your new ring!

 

[LGK]

It's probably white gold and yellow gold together; two tone jewelry like that was super popular in the WWII era and a bit past. The white gold used in that time period is different than modern white gold- much higher nickel content, so it is super white even w/o rhodium, unlike nowadays. If you haven't seen a lot of antique alloy white gold, it looks pretty different. It can vary a bit in appearance too- I have some antique WG that is nearly greyish and other that have just a hint of cream undertone... but basically most of the antique WG looks virtually identical to plat, but a smidge warmer in tone.

Sterling silver and yellow gold was used in Victorian jewelry actually, pretty commonly. But your ring would be too modern to be made of silver and yellow gold in that manner.

 

[that_someone_special]

Thanks for the responses!

The cut seems too symmetrical to be an OMC That's what it was sold as, but I just don't see it. Plus, it's very round. I will eventually take more pictures with an actual camera so you can see the facets... but for now..

Here is a picture of the metal (not great picture of the diamond, just an iphone picture). Once the metal was wiped off it got much brighter and left it's tarnish in the rag I used to wipe it with... would white gold do that? I have no idea.

 

[stci]

OMC can be round! It's rare but possible!

Your ring is soooo cute! I suppose the white is silver and the yellow is gold.

 

[that_someone_special]

I thought OMCs had more of an organic feel to the shape and facet pattern? This stone is perfectly round that the facet pattern is very clear (just not in the picture).

 

[sphenequeen]

After seeing the pic of your ring, I would agree with LittleGreyKitten - This looks like a two-tone gold piece from the 1940's. You may have a nice little transitional cut in there!

 

[KaeKae]

love your ring. White gold does tarnish, though not at the rate that silver does. Considering the age of your piece, I'd say that it had plenty of time to tarnish, if no one was cleaning it over the years.