Question Ring
QUESTION: Hi,
I recently inherited a gold ring with dark and light green stones from my Grandmother, and when I took it into a jewelers to be resized, the jeweler told me it was 15 carat gold. The hallmarks inside it read AA 15 625, then an anchor and a J. Are you able to give me an estimate of age, approximate value and where it was made?
Thanks
ANSWER: Hello Natalie,
Fascinating! 15 Kt gold is highly unusual to modern rings and does indicate some age.the 625 indicates 15 kt gold in fineness . It also sounds as if it is European in origin, and the stones perhaps emeralds and peridots or chrome diopside and tsavorites, but the latter combination less likely in an older ring. When I enlarge the photo it's too fuzzy to see the stones except that the main dark green stone does appear to be quite dark- darker than emeralds are for the most part, coloured, which calls to mind chrome diopside, or a tourmaline.If it were a tourmaline you would see it appear different coloured in different lighting conditions as it is plechroic- more than one colour shown, whereas chrome diopsides are more valuable and a consistent dark green, and higher valued than a tourmaline.
The marks though will take me some time to research. I have far more information on silver marks than gold however the lion and anchor indicate, it was made in Birmingham England, - if that is, it is the same lion and anchor - as Lions are used from Estonia to Ireland, and as far east as Iran to indicate place of origin, but my bet is, Birmingham as the standards office the piece was registered through. the AA probably indicates he maker or it is a date.
Can you please tell me the exact order of the signs and symbols inside the ring. I know the 625 is the fineness, and the lion and anchor Birmingham, and that would put the ring made around 1868 , but without actually seeing the typestyle of the A's and the background and whether or not there is a soverign's head in the markings it is hard to narrow down from speculation of what it may look like. I would want to give you a more definative answer. If it's possible can you take a shot of the markings inside the ring, or draw them roughly? the shape of the background behind any symbol is relevant and a bit of what history you suspect is attached to the ring. If your grandmother was German, that would be relevant, if Finnish, that too would bear on the mark, as I said Lions are widely used, and the design looks standard and european of the mid 19th century as such the value, depending on the condition of the stones would be in the neighborhood of perhaps $700.00 US, or $550.00GBP- as the gold content is approximately half pure gold ( 14-15kt is slightly more than half fine or pure gold) gold today is around $970.00 per oz. USD, but the daily market can change with the London Fix issued at about 3pm EST for a day and found on www.kitco.com, where you can check the gold and silver prices on a given day and know what you are dealing with when negotiatiing a sale. But I apologize in that I need a bit more information if you care to have me research it further, and it will take me a few days to get back to you.
Also, please describe or retake a photo of the stones I can't see them clearly in either photo. That would also help in giving you a more definative valuation. If it were a green diamond, of course the value wouold go up! but they were rarely cut and used in the period I suspect your ring is from.
Hope you have learned something in this all, Best regards,Ari
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15kt Ring
QUESTION: Thanks Ari,
The exact order of the signs and symbols are AA 15 625 anchor and what you say is a lion. There appears to be another circular hallmark on the underside of the stone section, of the lion or a lowercase 'r', i am not sure. The background of the hallmarks have been cut out of the ring and darkened, so the markings are gold and stand out. Unfortunately, my camera is not good enough to take a close up of such a small object, but i have done a rough sketch of the marks. It appears to have been resized previously, so there may have been another marking that has been covered.
As for my Grandmother, she was born in New Zealand, as was her mother. My great great grandfather was from Cornwall, and married there in 1968, later emigrating to New Zealand. My great great grandmother was from the Nottinghamshire area. We believe her family would have had the money to buy jewellery such as this ring.
The main stones are a mid to dark green, with lighter bluish green tones in it. The smaller stones are a mixture of dark green and pale blue. They are definitely not like any emeralds or other stones I have seen before. All but 5 of the stones are missing, and one is chipped, which obviously would lower the value quite significantly.
Thanks again
Answer Hello Natalie,
One more question- would you say the stones are banded? if so they may be fluorite and replacements, as they are common but soft.Sapphires from one of many locations worldwide can also show banding, particularly ones from the period before the late 1970's when stones were beginning to be heat treated to change their colouration or irradiated to achieve the same result.
As for the your drawing- thanks- I can definitively say the AA is the maker's mark - though I can't find a reference to a living or dead jeweler or manufacturer using exactly that mark and registered with the British assay and hallmarking office. I would guess that the piece, was made anywhere from the 1920's-70's and in or about Birmingham England as referenced by the maker registering it in the Birmingham office, indicated by the telling anchor. I don't have access to many New Zeland maker's marks so that rather limits my searching for you, but that does not rule out that it could have been made by a local NZ jeweler.I can tell you though it is after 1890 as there is no duty mark on the piece. I would like to think that the stones are native sapphires as they fit the bill with banding and only a chip to be seen as opposed to much damage from years of wear as one would see with fluorite- though many an unscrupulous jeweler has replaced tourmalines, chrome diopsides and sapphires with a cheaper, softer fluorite - and sometimes the customer rather fancied the colour variations and gradiations in the fluorites that are virtually found around the globe and easily cut.
The style of the ring looks more modern than old, however - curiously the band appears older than the mounting..with no other information I would guess the ring from the 1950's-60's based on that modernist period design and the use of trillion stylized settings that look hand fabricated as opposed to tree style castings, which would have been for mass production. I don't think that your ring was mass produced at all, rather a one off design by a maker producing in the UK in the late 50's up to the late 70's.
That's as best I can estimate Natalie.I would put a value on it of perhaps $550.GBP, or $700.00 USD for insurance purposes if you were to have the stones matched and replaced- which shouldn't cost more than 50-75 dollars from an honest independent jeweler without a time constraint put on him or her. If the stones are rare or otherwise regional, that could make for an increase in cost as well as securing them for replacement.The actual labour time involved shouldn't be more than a half hour with stones that size being set into perfectly intact ( from what I can see!) mountings.
As I said, I can't find a maker's mark to match but that the jeweler took the care to register it tells one that it was more than a hobbyist that made the piece. Often local jewelry sellers can help identify maker's marks if they deal in a wide variety of styles and makers. It is quite unique though and if seen before should jog the memory of any professional estimator, or appraiser. I'm sorry it isn't worth thousands but I'm afraid that even with the market at what it is, being 15kt. the value is more in the sentimentality and I would advise holding onto it rather than cashing it in for money on a "cash4gold" type site or merchant. Without absolutely identifying the stones that is particularly true. If though, you need to sell the ring for it's gold value, remove the stones yourself before selling it for weight, and look into the daily spot market before you go so as to know if the offer is reasonable.
Best regards, Ari
