Paging Jewel Freak

[LD]

I've just posted in the jewelry section a photo of a hallmark and wondered if you could cast your expert eye over it for me please?

TIA xxx

 

[JewelFreak]

Sure, LD. I have a hallmark booklet, if I can hunt it up.

--- Laurie

 

[LD]

You may not need your book - it's more whether you think the hallmark is genuine or not.

Thanks again Laurie.

 

[LD]

Laurie - photos uploaded into the other thread x

 

[JewelFreak]

LD -- thanks -- haven't been over there lately but your silver was on my mind. Got so involved in holidays I didn't let you know how to reach me otherwise. I'll go look now!

--- Laurie

 

[Kaymorris]

Yes I have a post on another thread. I have a 10k white gold ring with a pink stone that I was trying to find out what it was and I have a AV on the inside next to the 10k and was told you might know what that means any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[JewelFreak]

Kaymorris -- I saw your earlier post on this ring. All I can come up with is that AV is a hallmark used by the jewelry maker Andre Vassort of Paris. This business was registered there in 1955; they also copyrighted their hallmark in the States, but it is now considered "abandoned." (probably through not being renewed.)

Vassort made a variety of types & qualities of jewelry in the 1950s & 1960s. They manufactured pieces for van Cleef & Arpels, Boucheron, Maubusson, possibly others, of 18 to 22 ct gold & gems. They also did gold-plated jewelry with synthetic stones & lower-carat gold items. Vassort made other products from cigarette boxes to instruments used in the jewelry trade. I can't find a drawing or photo of this hallmark, but they are likely the maker of your ring.

Which tells you not much, unfortunately, except that the ring is probably French; Vassort made jewelry all up & down the quality line. In Victorian & Edwardian times genuine gemstones were occasionally set in low-carat gold. By the 1950s & -60s when Vassort was active, not so much.

My guess is that your ring is high-quality costume jewelry (which, if you watch Antiques Roadshow, is in high demand). Vassort's workmanship was excellent & it is gold, not vermeil, but I doubt 1. that they would have put a sapphire, spinel, or tourmaline, especially of that size, in a 10-ct setting, and 2. that you would be able to buy it for $150. In fact, the price you paid is a reasonable one for good costume jewelry -- you weren't overcharged. However, I'm pretty sure the stone is synthetic of some sort.

It's an awfully pretty ring -- I'd wear it with pleasure! Hope this is some help.

--- Laurie

 

[Kaymorris]

I got it because a lady's loan had gone up at a pawnshop. They gave her about 250 for it but it had a prong missing

 

[Kaymorris]

I found the mark but it's not the same. I got a pic of it on mine tho

 

[Kaymorris]

This is vassorts mark

 

[JewelFreak]

In all my stuff and the internet I can't find any other jeweler's mark of AV, let alone one that matches your ring.

These are my suggestions:

1. Unless you know the pawnbroker & know he's honest, I'd take the $250 purchase price he told you about with a big grain of salt. No store is in business to sell a ring for $100 less than they paid for it.

2. The price you paid is a good indication of its value. It is 10k gold, which is good; it isn't vermeil or gold-filled. How did you find the diamonds are real? Believe me, Kay Jewelers have no way of knowing. If the pawnbroker simply told you, again, skepticism is in order.

3. To know whether the stone is genuine anything, the only choice is to send it to AGL for a gem brief. They have the testing equipment to determine it -- jewelers do not. That's the only place you'll get a definitive answer.

4. AGL would charge almost as much as you paid for the ring. Is it worth it? Probably not. A huge pink sapphire is extremely unlikely to be set in 10k gold. Especially a well-saturated one. We all dream of The Find, but all indications are that this is not it.

5. And most important -- it's a super ring. Wear it! Have fun. If you want to decide it's a sapphire, go ahead -- nobody can prove you wrong! And don't worry about what it is!

--- Laurie

 

[Kaymorris]

I didn't purchase it from the pawnshop the lady I bought it from did. I had the diamonds tested several times. She paid 250 for the ring because a lady's loan had gone up and she couldn't get it back.our pawnshops don't test the stone unless it's a diamond they go by weight and it had a prong broken I had to get repaired.