We love the simple beauty of a flush set stone. This antique old cut diamond has been beautifully set in a smooth flush, also known as a rub over, setting. To either side sits a ruby, also set in the same way. The diamond in particular has a lovely high profile.
The ring looks to have lived quite the life, the inside has been thinned out at some point in time. This was a way of removing gold from jewellery you owned, whether it was to raise money or to take gold from one piece of jewellery to make another. As a result the ring is now quite thin and delicate in places and the inside has a pointed edge you can feel when worn.
The ring itself is made of 18ct gold and has a partial ‘18’ hallmark. Due to some of the gold being removed, this mark is now not quite complete. There is also what looks to be a maker’s mark but this is also hard to read clearly. It’s possibly ‘J W’ and looks like it could had had an ‘&’ and two further initials underneath before the ring was thinned out.
Ring size - approx a US 5.5 / approx a UK K 1/2 The ring is out of round now so when turned sideways on a ring mandrel it measures a touch larger at appox a US 5.75 / approx a UK L (Please see photos of it on a ring mandrel)
The ring weighs approx 1.6g and it measures approx 4.2mm wide at the front, tapering down to approx 0.8mm wide at the back of the shank. Without removing the stones from their settings we cannot give exact stone measurements but the diamond measures approx 2.7mm by 3mm and the rubies measure approx 2.6mm by 2.3mm each.
Condition - The ring is in well loved antique condition and does show significant signs of age and wear. As mentioned above, the gold of the ring has been thinned out and removed throughout so the ring is now much lighter than it would have now been originally made. The back of the ring is very thin and the inside of the ring is a little sharp/pointed due to the gold removal. The gold around the settings of the stones is worn in places and the stones show signs of age and wear as well as inclusions. The two rubies are both different in size, shape and colour and are not perfect matches to each other. One looks like it could have been reset at some point in time. The gold has surface wear including surface scratches throughout and the ring shape is now out of round but this isn’t really noticeable when worn.
We wouldn’t recommend this ring for daily wear and care will need to be taken when it is worn to preserve its condition. The ring has definitely lived quite the life, if only it could tell us its stories! Please see photos, the last three photos have been taken using a loupe to show the ring under magnification.
*Please note the antique box pictured and ring mandrel are not included in the sale but the ring will be shipped in a new presentation ring box and pouch*
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