Help with ring I recently acquired

[acebren]

I recently acquired an 18 carat gold mens pinky ring, its has a stone in the middle which is close to 8mm in diameter, it looks like a diamond, ill post some pictures, any info or suggestions will be helpful, just need someone more experienced than myself to look for any telltale signs that it could be fake so i dont waste my time going to get the stone checked by a professional

http://i1255.photobucket.com/albums/hh640/acebren/IMGA0180_zpsmruo159t.jpg
http://i1255.photobucket.com/albums/hh640/acebren/IMGA0181_zpsuieoqoze.jpg
http://i1255.photobucket.com/albums/hh640/acebren/IMGA0179_zpsmkylfl33.jpg

 

[the_mother_thing]

Without a straight-on picture of the stone, it's hard to tell much, though no one can really say by just looking at a picture. Most jewelers have diamond testers. If you have one locally that you've used in the past, I'm sure they'd be happy to test it for you with their equipment.

 

[acebren]

okay thanks, i was told on another forum that the way it was set makes it look fake, is this an uncommon way to set a diamond in a ring?

 

[PreRaphaelite]

The setting doesn't look fake as far as I can tell. The bezel-set stone is attached through a drilled hole in the black material (which could be agate, maybe Jet, perhaps obsidian, or even bakelite or glass or plastic - no way to know from a photo). That component looks to be the only connection between the black material and the gold ring setting - a very efficient way to assemble a ring's components.

As far as identification, is the ring attracted to a magnet? Does the black material feel cold to your lip, or warm? If you blow hot breath on the bezel-set stone, does it evaporate before you can refocus your eyes back on it, or does the condensation linger long enough to be wiped off? The "18ct" stamp rather than "18k" is interesting too. Does it have any other hallmarks visible inside (or outside on the bottom of the shank)?

Here's a ring with a similar bezel-set stone, just fyi.

You can buy a diamond tester and gold test kits online quite cheaply, and it will be worth doing if you plan to hunt for more sparkly things in future. Come back and let us know what you find out. Good luck!

 

[acebren]

i have a very strong neodymium magnet which is not attracted to the metal of the ring, im not an expert but the gold looks 100% legit to me

the black material is cold to my lip, but that may be because its 13 degrees celsius at the moment, when i exhale hot breathe i rarely can look fast enough to see the condensation, no other hall marks, im pretty sure in australia we use the english version of K which is ct, so that may be why.

i'll definitely get it checked on one of my days off and ill keep you guys up to date, thanks for the replies!

 

[MrsWhitney]

Yes, keep us posted. What a great find regardless!