To re-foil or not to re-foil my Georgian solitaire?

[antiquesaficionado]

Hi! I am new on here so not exactly sure how this works, but I recently purchased on eBay a wonderful rose cut solitaire ring. It appears to my uneducated eyes to be an authentic Georgian period piece. The band is yellow gold while the setting of the rose cut is silver. The foil back of the diamond looks old, and is a little oxidized in places with little spots, that leave the stone not looking murky per se but a little dirty. The ring is closed back.

Do you think it would be wise to re-foil this piece? I do enjoy a piece with signs of age and character, but I'm just considering perhaps it would look nicer if I were to restore the foil? What do you guys think? Leave as is or refoil?

Would appreciate any advice! Thanks

 

[lambskin]

What is the final result you want? A intact antique ring with flaws or a ring with a refoiled setting that may or may not improve the look of the diamond? Whatever you feel would be your ideal ring when wearing it should be your decision.

 

[antiquesaficionado]

Lambskin, thanks! I don't really mind the stormy look of the diamond currently, but I was just wondering perhaps people had re-foiling experiences that were awesome and dramatically improved their rings.

 

[foxinsox]

I would refoil only with someone who has experience in doing this - maybe one of the old cut experts like Adam at OWD or Erica at LAD would be able to help? That is a beautiful ring and it would be lovely to see the rose cut doing the prismatic thing rose cuts do so well.

 

[antiquesaficionado]

@foxinsox Thanks for those recommendations! I will reach out to them and see how much they would charge potentially. I have no idea how much that service would cost too...

 

[Ally T]

What @foxinsox said. It's beautiful & personally to me, I'd want a refoil & thorough polishing. But I'd be super picky about who I chose to do it.

 

[prinsad]

What a gorgeous find. I like it as is, but I would love to see the end result if you refoil!