Trying to ID antique wedding ring

[Biseh]

I am newly married and am trying to ID the maker/brand of my wedding band. The ring is 18kt ORANGE gold and is stamped inside the band - 18kt and a raised polished star within an unpolished circle. My husband bought the right from an antique dealer. I am very anxious to find out the origin of my wedding ring because it is a special piece to me.

 

[DavidEmslie]

Almost sounds Russian in origin, I have come across a few old Sovite made rings that are more of a rose gold, higher karat, Mainly beucase yellow gold looks horrible against olive colored skin, this is common in east Europe. Anway, the few pieces I have come across and worked with have a star, but generaly on the outside of hte band and not the inside.
With out seeing it its hard to tell, do you have a photo?

 

[pricescope]

David, Russians with olive colored skin?

Never seen one

 

[DavidEmslie]

Sure you have, folks of deep eastern european decent, very vair but a slight off darker shade, yet pale, Usualy normal yellow gold looks aweful(ie it washes out on the skin making 14k look like a pale off white/yellow on them), these are generaly people who wont wear yellow due too this nature, its not a green tone but it is commonly called olive...I dont know why but this is what I have had several people of Russian decent call themselves for a skin tone. In any case the customers I have had have never wanted yellow, always white gold, rose gold or platinum
In any case, I have run across several Russian pieces from modern Russian imigrants selling gold and every piece that was gold has a star, and is made from an off color rose gold alloy of 14k, each piece also has the markings on the outside of the band, and not the inside.
Just my observation and expereince on the matter.

 

[winyan]

I've met some absolutely gorgeous Russian folk from Siberia in Egypt. They looked more American Indian to my eyes than Russian...I imagine we are probably related, somewhere in the wash...either we walked over there *grin* or they walked over here!

They looked more golden apricot, like me, than 'olive'.

win

 

[DavidEmslie]

It varies, Russia has a huge expanse of land and contains many many different cultures and peoples, Id recomend traveling there if one ever gets the chance

 

[fire&ice]

My gut is telling me that if it was Russian, it wouldn't be marked 18K.

I've seen American items that have been rose gold as well.

 

[glitterata]

Rose gold was popular in the 19th century and again in the 1940s. I love it, myself.

 

[fire&ice]

----------------
On 4/15/2004 7:14:00 PM glitterata wrote:

Rose gold was popular in the 19th century and again in the 1940s. I love it, myself.----------------

true, later 19c. Early 40's

I know how exact you like to be!

 

[valeria101]

I am surprised about the gold content: there is sooooo much reddish gold in Eastern Europe and there used to be even more - just 14k or less. Supposedly the reddish color was (and is) not intended but the result of recycling gold without proper control on the alloy mix. About 5 years ago this type would have still been the dominating color on the market simply because larger scale jewelry making opperations were not in place and jewelry making was just all-in-one small shops capable to do everything from melting old gold and producing their own alloys from 24k and who-knows-what, down to the polish on the new pieces. These shops churned out pink/reddish gold. Maybe someone who knows what these alloys are made of and how could explain why this is so.

And no, these kind of jewelry was and is definitely not being made with the skin tone/ fashion in mind, as soon as standard yellow Italian gold took over, there is hardly any of the reddish older jewelry in sight

 

[Biseh]

Actually, the color of the gold isn't rose but ORANGE gold.

 

[DavidEmslie]

In my expereince, I could say that is a very good posiblity if it was done by a small shop, The recycleing of gold is common, and just as common is not doing it right. If you melt a bunch of wierd alloys together the mix is not the best. Some gold are for drawing into wire or making into sheet, some is specificly designed for casting, some at different melting temps. And alot is used in chain.

I have made the mistake of melting old chain down and the effect was a red/orange/brown alloy that was nasty to work with, rather pale, It polished up ok, but it was definatly not made for casting, the thing about it is, it is manufactured in a differnet way than other gold products. There is alot of solder in it. This can also thow the color off.
One can order fresh gold in a number of colors,
Includeing some of the weird ones
peach, orange, light green, light rose, off white, grey white, ect ect ect. There are a few dozen types but I wont list them.

 

[pyramid]

What about green gold?

also

Is this colour often found when recycling gold?

 

[Biseh]

The orange gold color of this ring is actually beautiful and really brings out the color of my cognac diamond ring that I wear it with. I am hoping to find another ring of this color since I do like it. So even knowing that the inside of the band is stamped 18kt and with the raised star trademark, it could still just be a local jeweler?

 

[DavidEmslie]

Green gold is due to a higher silver content, it is one of the least used alloys. Too much silver and you get electrum.
oh yeah, adding aluminum to gold can make it purple/violet. But its filled with air bubbles and cracks easily.

Generaly for alloys copper is less expensive than silver, so there is a greater copper content on the larger scale produced pieces in some areas, this is also why a lot of mass produced jewlery is plated with a 14k plate, it keeps it consistant.
There are a lot of alloys out there, and its a facinating subject but advanced metalurgy is a carreer in its self.

 

[Biseh]

One thing I forgot to mention is that the ring, after being purchased 2nd hand, was sent in an orange blossom ring box. Is orange blossom gold actually colored orange or is that just the name?