old mine cut in art deco setting, should i buy?

[Black Jade]

Saw one today. It''s something I''ve been looking for for awhile.
I put it on hold and am seeking advice. Unfortunately, do not have pics.
the OMC is .25, an eye clean SI2, F color. the setting is platinum, beautiful filigree. It''s an original 1920''s piece.the store is extremely reputable and has a 30 day return policy on all the pieces it sells.
I don''t know anything about OMCs--is this in the ballpark for the price, in such a ring? Truth to tell, I think the filigree is so lovely that I wonder if $1000 is a reasonable price for the filigree alone, not even counting that there is a diamond.
What do you guys think?

 

[tradergirl]

That''s too high IMO. I''d want to pay around $600-700 at most for that if the filigree was really great.

 

[Black Jade]

Date: 5/5/2009 8:48:46 AM
Author: tradergirl
That''s too high IMO. I''d want to pay around $600-700 at most for that if the filigree was really great.

where might I get a better deal?

 

[Black Jade]

I have looked at Jewels by Erica Grace; WannaBuyAWatch.com, Fay Cullen and I haven''t seen original platinum filigree rings for this price. where else might I look?
I am trying to replace a family ring, one lost by my grandmother. I may be being influenced by the fact that the ring I saw resembles it a lot, although it is definitely much smaller. but smaller does suit my hand.
I don''t want to get ripped off, however.
thanks for any feedback
I may be able to get photos tomorrow

 

[chrono]

$1000 is rather expensive for a 0.25 ct diamond that is F SI2, even in a platinum ring.

 

[Rhea]

DH and I had a discussion about this just this weekend. My wedding band - platinum, filigree, 1920s, with about .11 ctw of diamonds that look like salt - is my love. The darn thing cost an arm and leg, but I love it like no other. DH thinks that the setting makes the ring. If you have $5,000 to spend on the ring, there's nothing wrong with spending $4,000 on the setting and putting a $1,000 diamond in it. To him diamonds are things you dig out of the ground, polish, and set. The setting is the beauty, the work of art, the craftsmanship.

Yes, the price is high, but if this is it, the perfect piece of filigree beauty, get it. When a true antique comes available, it's a once in the piece's lifetime opportunity. The buyer probably isn't going to turn around in another year and sell it in a place you could easily find it. That's not to say that you should buy it for fear of losing out, but if this is THE piece and you've got the money in your bank account, buy it.

I've seen rings very similar to my wedding ring go for as little as 1/5 of the price, but the pattern of my filigree is stunning. The money was best spent on hunting for the perfect ring I ended up with.

 

[Rhea]

Also try:
Langs

Ruby Lane - especially the store Precious and Rare Pieces

Antique Engagement Rings

Art Deco Diamonds

Isdora's - expensive, but might have the perfect thing

Single Stone

Topazery - also expensive, but worth a look

I personally have an issue with Fay Cullen after buying my engagement ring there and discourage people from buying from them because of their poor customer service and bad return policy. You can do a search on PS to read my story and others.

 

[LGK]

An antique is worth what someone will pay for it, especially if you can't walk down the street and find the exact same item.

It's moot whether it is "worth" $1K. If you can afford it and love it, and it's unique, and you can't have it reproduced for less, there's your answer.

I think a lot of antique platinum filigree rings are underpriced, honestly, because the methods used to create them are basically a lost art. There is, as far as I know, a total of *one* jeweler that makes settings with the techniques that make the old pieces so beautiful. That would be Van Craeynest; they use the die striking, piercing and chasing that the old items were made with. And their settings are a heck of a lot more than $1K.

Also, the engraving done on antique rings is usually way better than 95% of new ones. I'd say Singlestone, Van Craeynest and Greenlake Jewelers (and probably a few other equally higher-end jewelers) can do true antique style engraving, but again- you pay for it.

If you think the ring is pretty unique, I'd probably go for it if I were you. If it's a more standard design, I'd shop around a bit.

Oh, and have you made an offer on it? Definitely ask for a discount if you haven't yet!

 

[Rhea]

Any updates?

 

[Black Jade]

Yes, i bought it. But I am still in the window of time to return.
My reasoning was that to get a modern ring in platinum with a .25 SI2 F diamond, I''d be paying something close to that price (pricing it out on Blue Nile) and all the antique sites I went to had nothing similar at the price. WBAW has antique rings under $1000 but everything they have comparable to this particular ring costs around $1300-$1500 (which was the listed price on this one, before the sale).
I took it to another jeweler after I bought it, and he told me that it is indeed a diamond, and that it is a transitional between an OMC and an OEC and it is an SI2 diamond. And he said that the ''pierced filigree'' work of this ring is ''exceptional''. And it is indeed very beautiful. Besides having the lacy-looking filigree (I don''t know if that''s what he meant by ''pierced'') it''s got an engraved design along the side, very delicate and beautiful. It''s a small ring--my grandmother''s from what I remember and can see in the (not very clear) photograph I have of her wearing it, was definitely somewhat bigger. But the style was very similar, and I''m much smaller than my grandmother so I''m willing to wear something smaller.

I''ve been trying to take photos of it but haven''t been all that successful. This is the best one that I''ve got. It''s next to my platinum ring from BlueNile that has a .65 F SI1 diamond. The diamond sizes look the same in the photo because the platinum gives that effect in the antique ring.
I''ll try to do other photos later--I can''t do it today.

 

[Black Jade]

You can''t see it well in this photo at all.
I''m just learning picture taking. I have got some photos of my diamonds so that they are visible in photos, but to take a photo of this ring so that you can see the filigree is giving me problems. as I said before, I''ll try again.
It''s my first older diamond--I have all modern AGS0 Ideal cuts. It''s not at all as brilliant. I find it looks beautiful from up close but does not sparkle as much at a distance.
However, I think I love it. the only thing I don''t like is the culet is visible when you look in the top of the diamond and it looks like a black hole. A little black hole--but a black hole. Is this normal for a mine cut/OEC? (The second jeweler said that it''s transitional between these two, which is also something I''d never heard of. I''m a newbie to this)

 

[Rhea]

I''m a firm believer in buying the right antique piece when you see it. Congratulations on your new ring!

To get a better photo, put the stone in daylight, set the camera to a macro setting (the light flower) if it has one, and turn off the flash. There are a couple of threads about it with more details.

 

[LGK]

Yep, that black dot is the open culet. Almost all old cuts have a visible open culet. I love the look of one, but if you''re used to seeing nothing but modern diamonds, you may have to get used to seeing it.

It looks gorgeous! Wewantmorepics

 

[Adah]

It looks lovely! more pics please!