Edwardian Ring ?

by Karen

Hello, I just read your very informative blog on antique rings and I am hoping you can possibly give me your opinion on the age of this ring I found in a thrift store.

This is what I DO know about it.

No marks, I tested with acid and the yellow gold stays at 14k and very slowly dissolves (5 mins) with 18k acid.

The top setting tests as platinum, doesn't dissolve with any acid, including platinum acid.

Test as diamonds and sapphire with my Presidium, I think the diamonds are Old European Cut, they have a tiny flat bottom.

The sapphire is a bit darker than my flash shows, it's a very pretty velvety blue.

I first thought it was Edwardian because it lacks the geometric design of Deco but I understand they made Edwardian style jewelry well into the 1940's (even today, although I don't think this ring is newer).

Could you give me a guess as to when this ring was made ?

Someone told me it wouldn't be Edwardian because it's cast and not struck.

Thank you for ANY help!

Karen.



Hello Karen,

To be honest this ring does not have the finesse and workmanship which is commonly seen in Edwardian rings. Additionally, these types of rings are somewhat rare and are not usually found in thrift shops - instead they are located through reputable antique jewelers and sometimes through estate sales and private collections that have gone up for sale.

The gem tester that you used is not necessarily reliable particularly when it comes to gemstones. For example, this type of tester cannot differentiate between synthetic and natural gemstones and there is an overlap between sapphire and topaz on the result readings. It is possible that the middle gemstone could be a blue topaz or synthetic sapphire. Platinum acid tests can also yield misleading results.

It is not uncommon to see gemstones and even small diamonds re-purposed into vintage or antique looking styles. This has been a common practice particularly through the 60s, 70s and even 80s.

I suspect that the ring you have is much newer, possible only 20 years old and would most likely fall into the category of bling or costume jewelry.

Regarding casting vs. struck - casting has been used to make jewelry for thousands of years so I don't think this is a very good determination of when a ring was made.

If you truly believe this might be an antique ring, the only way to know for sure is to have the ring assessed by a qualified antique jeweler.

Best of luck finding out the possible origins of this ring and if you ever do have the ring examined by an experienced jeweler send us your results!

Thank-you,

Suzanne Gardner
Everything Wedding Rings

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