Give an Added Beauty to Engagement Rings by Studding Sparkled Stones

Here in this blog on Antique Engagement Rings of diamond, we will look at other stones that match so well with diamonds and the reasons why.

A diamond engagement ring can be as simple and elegant as a claw set solitaire diamond ring, a 3 or 5 stone diamond ring, or a diamond cluster ring, and all of these can be brand new or antique, yellow gold or platinum or a combination and really any other design that you can think of.

When another gemstone is added, it is usually either a ruby or sapphire.

The reason is simple - both rubies and sapphires come from the same gemstone family of corundum (Al₂O₃₎, and indeed both are the same stone except for colour. Ruby when it is red, sapphire when it is any other colour - blue, yellow, green, purple to name a few.

However it is not the range of colours available in sapphires, or the wonderful vibrant red of ruby that makes it so appealing, it is its hardness and durability.

After diamond, corundum is second in hardness. On Moh's scale of hardness diamond is at 10 and corundum (ruby and sapphire) is 9.

From a gemmological standpoint, we take any gem with a hardness of over 7 to be considered durable - there are a few gemstones that are borderline 6 1/2 or so and are used in everyday jewellery including Engagement Rings, but this is for another article.

Over the centuries the most prized of all the sapphires have been the sapphires from Sri Lanka - formerly Ceylon and indeed sapphires from here are stilled called Ceylonese sapphires and are also sometimes referred to as "cornflower" blue, however this is a less common term used today. 

Sapphires from Sri Lanka are often a wonderful medium blue colour and are available in quite large sizes commercially so it will be quite easy to find a lovely Ceylonese sapphire over 2 carats and even over 5 carats in size.

Rubies are also found in various parts of the world, but again one country can really take claim to some truly stunning examples and this country is Burma and here the rubies are just stunning to admire.

However even though rubies and sapphires are the same gemstone, finding a large good quality ruby is hard, and anything over 2 carats in size will start to become hard to find and quite expensive in relation to a similarly sized sapphire.

Lately lead filling rubies have started to flood the market and a 2 carat ruby that looks superb can sell for less than $1,000 however it is not a stable treatment and here in Australia its true value of "no commercial value" will be applied so remember the saying that, "if it's too good to be true, then it is", as these lead filled rubies (which do look superb- for a while) can really be bought for less than $50.

So there we go. Both sapphires and rubies are durable like diamonds and that's why they are popular gemstones in engagement rings.

But the story doesn't end there. In fact it really does just scratch the tip of the iceberg because sapphires and rubies have been adored for centuries and the history in sapphire and diamond is just wonderful, however these two gemstones and their history is another great article that will be delved upon soon.

Rules for Vintage Watches that Helps to Make Your Collection Fruitful

Collecting and investing in Vintage Watches can be both wonderful and frightening at the same time – wonderful because of the variations of styles and brands and frightening on where to start!

Here are some general rules that we follow in our store and hopefully this should help you on your voyage into collecting.

Firstly from a collecting point of view, mechanical Watches hold their value over quartz (battery) powered. Mechanical can be either hand wound (manual) or automatic.

Secondly name always sell. A vintage stainless steel Omega Seamaster from the 1960’s will sell more quicker than a 9ct gold watch of the same era by a less known Swiss watchmaker.

Condition is always important and it is always a sure thing to pay a bit more and get a watch that is in excellent condition over one that is cheaper but has a damaged watch case.

This also applies to the internal condition of the watch. A watch that does not run well may need to be serviced at a cost of several hundred dollars.

Originality is important and having a watch with the original dial is better than one that has been re-painted. However if the watch dial is so badly damaged that it is no longer readable, then sometimes one has to bite the bullet and get it repainted.

If the band is steel or gold then it is great to have the original band but make sure that it is in good condition and doesn’t suffer from flex too much.

However the main rule of thumb to go by when buying a watch is go for what you personally like. There is no point buying a watch that everyone tells you is collectable if you don’t like it. Go for a watch that you will enjoy wearing even if it happens to be a repainted dial or by a lesser known watchmaker.

Antique Hair Jewellery- Most Popular since Victorian Era

This was also an age of sentiment and Queen Victoria loved jewellery and wore it profusely. She brought the cameo back in style as well as romantic jewellery, containing a lock of a loved one’s hair. It was not considered unnatural for Victoria to wear a Bracelet made from her children’s baby teeth.

Jewellery made from human hair increased in popularity during the Victorian era, and although many might consider jewellery made from hair as morbid, the jewellery made at the time did not necessarily come from deceased loved ones. In fact, a “miniature” trade evolved due to the popularity of hair jewellery. Lockets often had hair in the reverse, but the hair was not simply cut and placed in rather it was woven often in a very attractive design.

To prepare the hair required first boiling it in soda water for 15 minutes, and then dividing it into strands of 20 to 30 hairs each, by length. Businesses even sprung up where it was possible to send the hair to companies that would make a wide variety of items out of it. This became the second largest jewellery industry at one time making hair more valuable than silver per ounce.

There were 4 main styles of hair work design;

Palette work consists of arranging the pieces of hairs into shapes including geometric designs as well as flowers;

Hair flower work resulted in producing 3 dimensional flowers, often resulting in quite large wreaths;

Table work produced items such as bracelets, where the hair was woven using a specially made table with a hole in the centre with weights and ;

Sepia work is also amazing as this method used tiny chopped up hair as embellishments to line drawings or the art was exclusively sketched in hair.

When the hair-work was completed it was sent to the jeweller for the addition of fittings which were commonly gold.

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Things to Consider While Purchasing Most Romantic Engagement Rings

There is something so special and romantic about purchasing an antique diamond engagement ring, but what are some of the things that you should look for and consider?

Firstly lets look at two popular and sought after eras.

Without a doubt the most popular era for diamond engagement rings at the moment is the Art Deco period of the 1920's. This wonderful era produced wonderful geometric designs that have always remained popular and sought after. Not only are the designs of the Engagement Rings delightful, but this era introduced to the world the beauty of platinum in jewellery making. Although discovered around 1735 and used in jewellery at the start of the 20th Century, it was the Art Deco jewellers that truly embraced this wonderful metal. Able to be drawn into a very fine wire and always retaining its pure white colour, platinum was a favourite of many of the jewellers of the 1920's and 1930's.

Bezel setting was also very common, and is when the diamonds (or other gemstones) are set with a bezel surrounding the stones instead of using claws to hold the gemstones.
   
The late Victorian era of the 1890's is another very popular era for antique diamond engagement rings and differ quite a bit from Art Deco engagement rings.

Firstly, platinum was never used and often the entire ring will be made in 18ct yellow gold.
   
Some rings may be topped in silver as it was realised that the yellow of the gold can reflect into the diamonds "tinting" them yellow.

However the most important feature that we find with antique diamond engagement rings from this era, is the wonderful scroll work that is often found on the side of the ring.

Furthermore, if the engagement ring is a 3 or 5 stone diamond ring, then more often than not, each diamond will often have two smaller diamonds between each one adding that bit of extra character and sparkle and shows how much work went into making these rings even well over 100 years ag

The difference between the two diamond styles is not the number of facets (cuts) that each has - they both have 58 facetes - but the angles of the facets.

In the earlier diamonds, the angles will be quite high and have quite a large culet (the final "58th" facet at the very bottom of the diamond) whereas in the modern brilliant cut, it was realised that lowering these angles and reducing the sizer of the culet would prevent light "leaking" out of the diamond.

So does a modern diamond sparkle more than an antique one?

Simple answer is of course yes. However it won't be the difference of a 100 watt light globe compared to a 10 watt light globe, rather the more modern cut will reflect light back into the eye better.

However there is so much charm in an antique hand cut diamond that so many people just love. The thought of an antique diamond in an antique ring is so delightful and romantic.

This engagement ring article can keep going on and on, however it will stop here but with one final note. No-one said that a diamond engagement ring had to be a single diamond solitaire ring or just diamonds for that matter. So keep your mind open to variations such as sapphire and diamond or ruby and diamond rings.

Antique Engagement Rings

Maintain Fascination while Buying Antique Jewellery

Buying antique jewellery can be one of the most exciting and rewarding experiences, as the range and variations of antique jewellery worldwide is quite simply limitless in its variety and price.

A very sweet sterling silver antique brooch from the late Victorian era of the 1890’s can be purchased for as little as a few hundred dollars, as can some wonderful dazzling costume jewellery from the 1930’s, and this can go all the way in price to a platinum Art Deco ring with a very large diamond for several hundred of thousand dollars, the price and styles of antique jewellery is so vast and wide, that people can literally search for years for that right piece.

Like most things, education is the key, and by simply spending a few hours on the internet, one can educate themselves on the different styles of jewellery that has been produced over the centuries.

By simply searching the internet so many antique jewellery stores can be found and one can quite easily come across a limitless number of sites including on-line auctions selling and dealing in antique jewellery.

However nothing will beat actually beat going into an antique store and picking up and holding a piece of antique jewellery in your hand, knowing that you are quite literally holding a piece of history. By talking to antique dealers you can learn so much and gain that extra piece of valuable knowledge and appreciation for antique jewellery.

One of the first things to look out for when buying a piece of antique jewellery is the condition that it is in. Turn the piece over, whether it is a ring, brooch, necklace etc, and look for signs of wear such as the band wearing thin. This does not always mean a problem, as often the band can be repaired or even replaced.

Other signs to look out for are the use of lead solder. Commonly used to repair jewellery right up to the 1970’s and sometimes even today, it can be easily seen as having a slight grey look to it.

Don’t be too concerned with ring size, as nearly all antique rings can be re-sized to fit your finger. The care here however, is to find a jeweller that knows how to correctly re-size an antique ring.

Buying antique jewellery should always remain fun and interesting, and can become quite a wonderful field to pursue and learn about and when finally you do hold and wear that first piece of antique jewellery, you will quickly come to realise why there is such a fascination with buying antique jewellery.

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How to Sell Your Antique Jewellery

Many people have antique jewellery that they have inherited from relatives and other loved ones, from past partners, or just purchased over the years, and it is quite easy to accumulate a vast collection.

For various reasons however, many people end up with antique jewellery that they no longer like, wear or need, or simply need the money and are not sure how to go about selling the jewellery or where to go to do it.

The price of gold has increased quite dramatically in the past few months; many people have “raided” their jewellery box to see what treasures they no longer wear or need and this has caused many gold buying stores to open up.

There is of course nothing wrong with selling your jewellery that will be melted down and refined, however many pieces of antique jewellery has an added value due to its age or era which is not taken into consideration at many of these places.

If an antique piece of jewellery can be on-sold, then many antique stores will often pay a higher price than just going on its scrap value, as the piece can be sold to a customer and therefore the store will want to purchase it for that reason.

Many pieces of beautiful and one off pieces of antique jewellery including pocket watches are being sold for scrap, melted down never to be seen again, and this is a crying shame for any antique dealer.

Auctions have always proven to be another solid way to sell your pieces of antique jewellery, and it is very easy to find an auction house that specialises in particular items such as jewellery and furniture where you can take your pieces to be sold. 

Ask the auction house the commission that they take for selling, as this can range from as low as several percent of the selling price to 20% which does quickly add up. 

Of course there is nothing wrong with this, as auction houses need to make money, and a low commission does not always mean the best auction house to go to, as some of the high end auction houses that charge more, will usually present your pieces of jewellery in a much higher standard – catalogue quality, advertising etc, and therefore reach a larger target audience.

Now the ease and variety of “self-service” on-line auction sites has opened up a whole new world for people to sell their items of jewellery from the comfort of home, and this relatively “new” trend does not seem to be slowing down anytime soon.

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Where to Sell Antique Jewellery for Higher Price

Like a lot of jewellery, many people inherit antique jewellery from relatives and other loved ones, from past partners, or just purchased over the years.

However for various reasons, many people end up with antique jewellery that they no longer wear or need, or simply need the money and are not sure how to go about Selling Jewellery or where to go to do it.

Because the price of hold has increased quite dramatically in the past few months, many people have "raided" their jewellery box to see what treasures they no longer wear or need and this has caused many gold buying stores to open up.

There is of course nothing wrong in Selling Antique Jewellery that will be melted down and refined, however many pieces of antique jewellery have an added value due to its age or era which is not taken into consideration at many of these places.

If an antique piece of jewellery can be on-sold, then many antique stores will often pay a higher price than just going on its scrap value, as the piece can be sold to a customer and therefore the store will want to purchase it for that reason.

Many pieces of beautiful and one off pieces of antique jewellery including pocket watches are being sold for scrap, melted down never to be seen again, and this is a crying shame for any antique dealer.

Auctions have always proven to be another solid way to sell your pieces of antique jewellery, and it is very easy to find an auction house that specialises in particular items such as jewellery and furniture where you can take your pieces to be sold.

Ask the auction house the commission that they take for selling, as this can range from as low as several percent of the selling price to 20% which does quickly add up.

Of course there is nothing wrong with this, as auction houses need to make money, and a low commission does not always mean the best auction house to go to, as some of the high end auction houses that charge more, will usually present your pieces of jewellery in a much higher standard - catalogue quality, advertising etc, and therefore reach a larger target audience.

Now the ease and variety of "self-service" on-line auction sites has opened up a whole new world for people to sell their items of jewellery from the comfort of home, and this relatively “new” trend does not seem to be slowing down anytime soon.