Antique old cut diamond ring - keep it?

[hunde]

Hello!
I recently purchased this antique ring. I’m not a fan of the turquoise in the middle and was planning to look for a nice new center stone, maybe a sapphire. However now when I have it I can see that the prongs have a fair amount of wear and tear and one of the diamonds has been replaced by a modern brilliant.

The rest of the diamonds are old European/ old mine cut and in decent shape, each unique and funky. The side stones make the whole ring a bit different and give the ring a nice finger coverage. The ring has some weight to it and feels durable apart from the prongs, 18k gold.

But I just don’t know if I should return the ring? I like it but it would need quite a bit of work, resizing and finding a new center stone too. Would I be better off finding another antique ring to work with / be perfect as is? Also would be a crime to take this one apart? I paid 400USD for this which I thought was a great price but now with the prongs and replaced diamond not so sure.

Thank you so much for all the advice in advance !

 

[mrs-b]

My opinion for what it's worth....

Love the turquoise center - not a fan (at all) of the side stones. They seem utterly disconnected from the rest of the ring, which is clearly meant to be a cluster - but then seems to be having a bit of a crisis of identity and wandering off towards being a three stone.

If you don't like the turquoise and want a new center - no problem. But I'd have the shank remade into a plain band and would use the 'wandering sides' for something else.

I think $400 was a great price - but that depends on the quality of the diamonds. Definitely not a crime to take it apart. I'd also make a point of replacing the round brilliant. Could be a gorgeous ring - but needs some serious work, as you said.

 

[yssie]

Are you sure they’re actually diamonds? Not paste or white sapph? Cause $400 is ridiculously low for what looks like a nontrivial ctw… With centerstone and 18k gold, no less.

 

[hunde]

My opinion for what it's worth....

Love the turquoise center - not a fan (at all) of the side stones. They seem utterly disconnected from the rest of the ring, which is clearly meant to be a cluster - but then seems to be having a bit of a crisis of identity and wandering off towards being a three stone.

If you don't like the turquoise and want a new center - no problem. But I'd have the shank remade into a plain band and would use the 'wandering sides' for something else.

I think $400 was a great price - but that depends on the quality of the diamonds. Definitely not a crime to take it apart. I'd also make a point of replacing the round brilliant. Could be a gorgeous ring - but needs some serious work, as you said.

Thank you! That’s actually very helpful, I think you might be right about the side stones, they ruin the whole ring. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what was wrong with the ring/why I didn’t like it as much I had hoped. I initially liked the sides as they made it different and quirky but maybe they just don’t work.

The side stones are a bit bigger and better quality than the other ones so could be used on some other project. They’re also old mine whereas the other are more OEC.

I could ask my local jeweler to fix the prongs and take the sides away and see how I feel re the turquoise.

 

[hunde]

Are you sure they’re actually diamonds? Not paste or white sapph? Cause $400 is ridiculously low for what looks like a nontrivial ctw… With centerstone and 18k gold, no less.

Yes I tested them at home and had a look with a loupe. Some of them are very wonky though but the sides are nice. I’ve once bought a sapphire ring from the same dealer that was actually a branded ring (from Bucherer) and the seller sold it for peanuts without realizing!

 

[nala]

Great deal for some of us who can live with imperfections!
Personally I would keep but I have a collection of imperfect rings that I love. I would keep it as is tho and not invest more money into it bc I happen to love the turquoise

 

[hunde]

Great deal for some of us who can live with imperfections!
Personally I would keep but I have a collection of imperfect rings that I love. I would keep it as is tho and not invest more money into it bc I happen to love the turquoise

Thanks! I could consider keeping it as is if the prongs were better. However now wearing it would guarantee losing stones.

Hence I need to have it fixed anyways. It will probably need significant amount of work to secure the stones properly. So might as well change couple other things to give me a ring I’d actually love and wear more often.