Silver moissy ring arrived marked au750

[Scotopal]

I ordered a silver moissy ring from a Chinese seller as a cheap way to see how I like moissy. It arrived with the ring marked au750, though. Any way to check what metal it is at home? It's a white metal (and a pretty ring ) and I've no complaints if they've sent me white gold instead of silver of course! For the price that really does seem too good to be true, though...

I can post pics when I'm on a decent connection, if that will help?

 

[Scotopal]

See pic attached. Sorry about the quality!

 

[bludiva]

Any jeweler or place where they buy gold should be able to test it

 

[Scotopal]

Thanks! Would an acid test at the jeweller mark the ring - it's currently v new and shiny - or am I worrying about nothing?

 

[Rose-gold-or-bust]

With poor regulations in China, it could be literally anything, regardless of what it marked. Did you buy from a reputable seller? Was the price too good to be true?

 

[bludiva]

Thanks! Would an acid test at the jeweller mark the ring - it's currently v new and shiny - or am I worrying about nothing?

it does leave a tiny scratch but there is some kind of tester you can just touch to the piece, not sure how accurate it is.

 

[dk168]

Acid test would leave a mark on the metal.
If the tester is kind, he/she would test the inside or the bottom of the shank so as not to leave a mark on the outside or not visible when the ring is worn.
As the others have commented, the hallmark may not be reliable given its origin.
Perhaps contacting the seller to start with to make enquires.

DK

 

[Scotopal]

Thanks. It was a fairly reputable seller - not that old a company, but recommended by people who've ordered much more expensive pieces from them. My ring was under $30 - a competitive price for the small, simple silver ring I ordered, but if I'd seen an 18k gold ring for that price I'd have assumed it was too good to be true. It would be weird for the seller to risk their reputation on such a cheap order, though - I was only expecting silver, and they sell items costing 100 times as much!

I'll try a jeweller - see what they think. Thanks again!

 

[docscully]

Just chiming in that I did the same thing. The moissanite ring in silver was quite inexpensive so I jumped on it. (I'm dealing with swollen fingers right now, so I can't wear my rings. Even my original wedding ring doesn't slide past my knuckle easily.) It is also marked AU750. The moissanite is real though, I tested it. Not as pretty as my Tianyu moissanite, but this one isn't colorless. I may take it somewhere tomorrow as well to find out, unless you already have your answer and want to reply here.

 

[Scotopal]

Thanks! Won't make it past a jeweller till next week, so no more info up share. Let me know what you find out!

 

[docscully]

We did an acid test on my ring. It didn't react like silver or something else like copper but she didn't think the ring itself acted quite like gold. Her thought was that it was neither but probably worth more than I spent on it. She was trying to be very careful with the scratch though, so who knows.

Verdict: still don't know.

 

[Scotopal]

Thanks. Who was it you bought from? Mine was Kalala.

I think I'd be annoyed on principle if it was neither silver nor gold, having ordered silver and received something marked as gold I mean, what company selling expensive gold and platinum jewelry messes around with a cheap silver ring...

 

[docscully]

It was Kalala as well. I figured that was probably who you ordered from as well given the situation. I ordered based on what I saw on Reddit. I'm happy with the ring as long as it doesn't start to turn orange. Most cheapie rings do that for me starting with the prongs, so it always looks funny. At least the moissanite is real if nothing else. This one is I color and I really see the yellow in it. My Tianyu ring had a colorless center stone and I definitely prefer it.

 

[Bron357]

Unfortunately a lot of jewellery sourced from China have fake hallmarks on them. They just don’t have the same rules and regulations as other countries. I bought myself an eternity band in 925 silver with moissanite to test out the “look”. I wore it overnight. The next morning I woke to a “burning” finger, it was definately not even 925 silver, it was nickel plated and I had a massive allergic reaction. And using my presidum tester, they weren’t Moissanite either, just CZ.

 

[docscully]

Oh ouch. That looks like it hurts. I know it is a risk buying from China. I've never had a metal allergy (knock on wood) so I've never had a reaction like that. I'm just not a fan of the look when plating wears off.

 

[Scotopal]

Thanks - I'll see what the jeweller says later in the week. My ring is IJ colour, but looks pretty white unless I catch it at an angle.

That sucks Bron357. Hope it has healed now? Faking silver just seems daft for companies that rely a lot on online reviews and reputation, but I may be underestimating how lousy people can be

 

[bludiva]

that they send out items with a mystery metal and a fake gold stamp is super shady, i hope people see this and decline to buy from this company

 

[docscully]

Hey you got the same ring I did, I think, For what it's worth, I think it's cut fairly well. I'm just not a fan of the yellow tinge... but I knew it'd be there; I just had a colorless to compare it to already. I may take it to our local diamond shop tomorrow (I need to get some rings cleaned anyway) but this place was close to where I work, so I stopped there. If you do like the stone itself, Mona, Starsgem, Tianyu, or possibly Provence would be the places I'd do business with. People have been very happy with them. (Provence being a bit more iffy I think, some are happy, some not.)

If the metal in the setting is really cheap, they've done a good job hiding it.

 

[rockysalamander]

Au750 would be 18k gold.

 

[Scotopal]

Hey you got the same ring I did, I think, For what it's worth, I think it's cut fairly well. I'm just not a fan of the yellow tinge... but I knew it'd be there; I just had a colorless to compare it to already. I may take it to our local diamond shop tomorrow (I need to get some rings cleaned anyway) but this place was close to where I work, so I stopped there. If you do like the stone itself, Mona, Starsgem, Tianyu, or possibly Provence would be the places I'd do business with. People have been very happy with them. (Provence being a bit more iffy I think, some are happy, some not.)

If the metal in the setting is really cheap, they've done a good job hiding it.

Thanks - I'd be curious to know if the diamond shop can tell you any more. I like the look of the ring -definitely doesn't look 'cheap'. I'll be annoyed on principle if I bought silver and got mystery metal, though!

 

[docscully]

Au750 would be 18k gold.

Yup, which started the whole debate. Both of us bought rings assuming they were silver with an 18K hallmark. If I got an 18K ring for less than $20, I'd be amazed. I agree with Scotopal though, I'd really like to see it silver with an 18K plating at least. For the price I didn't think it'd be gold, just would be cool if so.

It faces up pretty white in some lights which is nice. Pardon the fat knuckle and dry hands.

 

[docscully]

The Diamond Shop didn't tell me much other than it was plated something. After rereading the overwhelming positive reviews for the ring itself (including some who mentioned it was stamped .925 and was silver), I took it to a local pawn shop today (since they buy gold) and the person who examined my ring spent about 10 minutes examining it. He said "this may be the best $18 you've spent." His opinion is that it is rhodium plated gold. He tested the stone for himself (as I mentioned that I'd tested it myself) and it registered moissanite as I expected. Everyone makes mistakes so he could have been wrong, but Scotopal and I may have gotten extremely lucky.

This has been a fun little mystery. I'm not holding my breath for gold, but it's pretty neat.

 

[Scotopal]

Thanks - that's interesting! How confident were the pawn shop?

I didn't make it past a jeweller today - had to work late - but will hopefully find time tomorrow.

 

[docscully]

He was pretty confident. Time will tell for sure though. Once the plating is gone it'll be much easier to tell for sure. The fact that this ring didn't react like a silver or base metal would to the acid test gives his opinion more strength too. (The gold not reacting as she expected to was because she thought there was some magnetic pull. I couldn't feel any with a rare Earth magnet, but I don't know what to look for myself.... And if there was, and it is a gold ring, could it also be one of the metals mixed with gold doing so? I know the alloy the Chinese use is different than we'd have in the US.)

 

[Scotopal]

Would be neat if it is 18k gold, as you say. I guess time will tell! The recipient of mine seems to have her rhodium plating last ages - a ring she wears every day looks like it might need replating soon after about 6 years, and this one likely won't be worn nearly as often... Do post an update if you're wears more quickly

 

[Scotopal]

I went by 3 jewellers today and got 3 different opinions. One thought it was definitely not gold because of the price I paid, one thought it was either silver or gold and I likely got a bargain with gold, and the third thought it lacked weight and depth so was likely paste in a mystery metal. I also asked Kalala, who said the ring is silver but staff gave it the wrong material marking by mistake. None of the jewellers did any testing more elaborate than look at it through a loupe.

I think I'm now more confused than when I started! Is there any way to at least check if the stone is genuine myself - it looks very sparkly for paste, but then I've not seen much modern paste jewelry...

I was surprised the jewellers didn't do more testing. Two of them definitely buy used jewelry, so they must have equipment for testing... Maybe just busy over Xmas I guess (and, of course, no-one's obliged to look at my ring for free!)

 

[docscully]

I think it's also partly: well you're not buying from or selling to me, so I'm not going to spend too much time with you. As much as I like the Diamond Shop, I've never felt they take me too seriously because I can't afford 10K+ for a ring. Nor would my husband want that much money on my finger-- what if I lost it. (That being said, when my husband and I went in to see what type of ring styles I liked before I finalized what kind of upgrade I wanted, they were very attentive. At the time, I wasn't sure what I wanted to buy stone-wise, either. Potential customer vs person off the street asking questions, I guess.)

I'm going to hold off on saying the metal is x or y for sure till I've worn it longer as I mostly got it so I can have *something* on my left hand while the swelling gets under control.

To make yourself feel better: the moissanite in my ring is genuine. I tested it with my diamond tester when I got it, it behaves like the center stone in my three stone ring, and the last shop I took it to tested it with their diamond/moissanite tester. Interestingly enough, it throws less rainbows around in certain lights than my main one, which may be on account of the body color? I'm not sure, but it's interesting.

 

[Sunstorm]

To me the most likely scenario is that it is base metal plated with a thin layer of gold. Anyone can stamp anything on a ring. I have seen this done on plated vintage base metal pieces similarly. The mark means nothing.

 

[Scotopal]

Thanks. I've also noticed that it's stamped D1.00ct. Is that stamp meant to refer to diamonds, or any stone (clearly they haven't sent me a nice 1ct diamond for under $20)? Did yours also have this stamp @docscully?

And yeah - I can understand the shops not wanting to spend too much time with a non-customer, at a busy time of year...

 

[docscully]

Yes, mine was stamped D1.00ct too. I believe it is what the size of the stone would be if it was a diamond. Some of the early Tianyu rings were stamped that way, if I'm remembering correctly, but mine is not.

Since all stones have different weights (sapphire is heavier/more dense than diamonds, so a 1 carat sapphire is smaller than a diamond) I have to imagine it means that the stone is the size of a 1 carat diamond. Moissanite is about 10% lighter, but a 6.5mm diamond would be roughly a carat, if cut well. (At least all the images say so. )

Gemstone experts: If I'm spouting off wrong information, please correct me. This is all just my understanding and I don't pretend to be the vast font of knowledge that many of you are.