New to this: my grandfather's ring

[epstud74]

my grandfather passed away 19 years ago, but my grandmother passed just recently and one of the items I inherited was this gold ring. I may need to have it resized slightly but I'd like to wear it if I could. Any idea of what it is? It doesn't appear to be anything remarkable but a simple gold band with a diamond of sorts. From what I was told, he bought this when he was in Amsterdam after spending a few days in Monaco, but I suspect he may have purchased it here in Minnesota.

https://m.imgur.com/a/QzNTh

 

[epstud74]

 

[Bron357]

It’s very beautiful. A men’s signet ring. Can’t quite read the inside of the ring but I presume it says 14kt /585 or maybe 18kt/ 750 - that’s the gold content. If it has some initials, they could be the manufacturers marks but it’s nigh impossible to trace these unless they are well known ones or you know for sure where the ring was made.The diamond looks quite nice and large. You could get a jeweller to measure it in the setting, as a guide if it’s 6mm wide it’s about 1ct. Hard to tell from a photo without a reference point, but I’d say it’s over 1 carat in size. It could possibly be a CZ (a synthetic diamond) a jeweller can easily test this for you. It’s not uncommon to find lovely rings with a CZ set instead of a diamond, especially if the original stone was damaged or lost - people go “whoa” to learn the cost of a replacement diamond and sometimes go with a cheap, but still pretty alternative. Assuming it’s a diamond and over 1 carat, from the photos it looks relatively clean and bright, so it’s worth quite a few thousands I’d say.

 

[epstud74]

I had to google "signet" and I believe it is actually a diamond. It's been sitting in my grandmother's safe since he passed away. My oldest female cousin got my grandmother's ring when she passed a couple weeks ago and I received this ring of my grandfather's. I'll probably try and get it checked out/appraised at the jeweler my wife's cousin works at over the holidays. He'll be able to resize it for me as well, for a small fee

 

[Bron357]

And I hope you wear it with love and pride. The good jewellery is inherited, the “best” jewellery is worn and loved

 

[VRBeauty]

If the ring had been bought new in Amsterdam, it would have a series of small marks to indicate when and where the metal was assayed, as well as the metal purity. It doesn't look as if it has those hallmarks, so you might be right about it having been bought stateside. Either way, it's a very striking ring. Wear it in good health!

 

[VRBeauty]

One database for Dutch hallmarks, including maker marks: http://www.gzu-online.com/index2.php?page=hallmarks&l=2

Another: http://www.silvercollection.it/DICTIONARYEUHALLMARKNETHERLANDS.HTML

 

[epstud74]

Ok. Finally went to a jeweler today and the older lady who owned the shop confirmed that it was in fact a diamond. She measured it across (I think?) and w/o taking it out of the prong, to be about 3 carats. Has a tiny "white" imperfection on the top, like a feather. She let me look at it thru the microscope. I pressed my dad about it, and he thinks it's from an estate jeweler/dealer in New Orleans, LA. Same place where my grandmother's vintage ring was purchased. She wore it on her right hand.

 

[Bron357]

Excellent news. Even with a feather inclusion a 3 carat diamond is worth many thousands of dollars. Looking at the photos, a little clean would be good (if the jeweller didn’t do it for you). Nothing fancy, just an old toothbrush with a bit of liquid soap and give it a gentle scrub on the underneath side and rise in warm water. Then admire it out in the sunlight. Beautiful.

 

[Tourmaline]

What a treasure! Enjoy!

 

[minimountains]

Wow, you inherited quite a lovely heirloom! A 3 carat diamond is worth having appraised and insured! You will be surprised at the worth an appraiser will give you! Probably 8-10k more than you expect it to be worth!

 

[epstud74]

Got it appraised and the value came back at $18,250 without taking it out of the mount etc..

 

[stracci2000]

Wow! What a treasure!
I hope you wear it and enjoy it.

 

[valeria101]

.
If you ever wished to sell, perhaps you might wish to get a GIA report. Otherwise, of course the diamond does not change, no matter what we say about it !

This is my style of ring & there are never many of them here .-)


___

random: guessing the clarity would be SI1 from the description, GIA graded diamonds of this value listed here, are of anythign between J to M colour - a wide range of ... I imagine that the grades given on your appraisal are somewhere in this neighbourhood, perhaps toward the white (J) end.