Diamond, Ruby & Jadeite Rings, ca. 1925
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GUEST:
It's a collection of three rings that were passed down from my mother, who died about four years ago. I know very little about them other than I did see my mother wearing the ruby, and I know that it used to be a man's ring that was worn by my grandfather. And then when my mother inherited it, she had it sized down so that she could wear it. The other two rings I never did see her wear. I suspect that they came from her mother, my grandmother, who married a gentleman who was in the shipping business in San Francisco. So I'm surmising that's perhaps where they originated.
APPRAISER:
We have a beautiful jadeite ring right here. It's even in tone-- it's a beautiful apple green. It's flanked by these very simple baguettes diamonds on the side. I would say it's probably made in the 1920s, the ring itself. It does have some numbers inside that may be tracked through research, but it is not signed, so we don't know who made that. It was originally a jade button. And we know that from the underneath of the stone. It's got a little grove as to where the button went. Do you have any idea of its value?
GUEST:
I don't. I would say a conservative auction estimate would be right around $5,000.
APPRAISER:
Moving along to the ruby ring, the ruby center, it's approximately three-and-a-half carats. And it's a beautiful color in that's a very bright, intense red stone. We think at the jewelry table that it possibly is a Burmese stone. Those are the best stones that are available in corundum, which is ruby. And it's got a very special quality to it in that it's a very bright red stone. They sort of glow when you look at them. It's signed with some five-digit numbers, which possibly could be researched. But we don't know who made that. If we got a certificate that stated it was Burmese, I would say you're looking at, conservative estimate, $15,000 on that. The diamond ring, it's about three-and-a-half carats again, approximately. The color is very white on the stone. It's probably a E or F color. A very clean stone in that it's a VVS stone, meaning very, very slightly included. Again, we would want a certificate on that to prove that. The setting looks like it was probably set and made at around the 1920s Art Deco time period. Also, it's signed in the shank "Shreve & Co." which is a San Francisco retail store, still in business.
GUEST:
Right, right.
APPRAISER:
This one is so beautiful for a lot of reasons. It's a perfect square-shaped stone. It's three-and-a-half carats. It's a very beautiful size in that it's quite wearable. So we're thinking $40,000.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
Collectively, all three rings, probably right around $60,000.
GUEST:
Oh. Very impressive. I'll have to get the Brinks car to take them home.
APPRAISER:
Now you need a sapphire to round it out.
GUEST:
Yeah, I'll work on that one.
APPRAISER:
Okay.
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