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 Replies: 19 / Views: 3,635 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4333 Posts |
I now call the the place I found this ring "Lake Heartbreak". Dug this today. HH,FFD   When I listen to LED ZEPPELIN...so do my neighbors...
Roll hunting since '77
Dirt fishing since '72
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
The first picture shows the diamonds up as pink in color.
Pink diamonds are excessively rare, and because of the color variation, are almost impossible to color match.
I would sugest some other gemstone species such as Kunzite (natural) or pink cubic zirconia (man made, and most probable)
I facet gemstones. One of my favorite man made cutting materials is cubic zirconia.
It is relatively hard (Moh's 8), better colour dispersion than diamond, (the ability to split a ray of light up into rainbow colors), and a higher refractive index (when cut correctly, able to reflect more light back through the top facets).
It is a much tougher stone than diamond. It is able to withstand much higher temperatures and does not burn, and is less likely to shatter on hard impact.
These physical characteristics make it much more suitable for jewelry use than diamond.
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Moderator
 United States
16679 Posts |
Nice find. Is it gold?
swcoin.ecrater.com
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
4333 Posts |
Quote:
Nice find. Is it gold? Thanks, wish it was. Gold-plated sterling. When I listen to LED ZEPPELIN...so do my neighbors...
Roll hunting since '77
Dirt fishing since '72
Edited by fistfulladirt
09/08/2012 12:34 pm
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Moderator
United States
16679 Posts |
Hey, still silver :)
swcoin.ecrater.com
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Pillar of the Community
United States
979 Posts |
One way or another, it's a nice ring. You should have it appraised and post what the value is. I'm curious anyway :P
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2624 Posts |
I thought it was pink cubic zirconia on a plated ring too but I didn't want to be the bearer of bad news.
Its pretty rare to find diamonds in anything not gold or platinum (occassionally I had seen diamonds in silver as handmade peices for people who display very allergic reactions with impure metals)
Diamonds can be coloured but of course naturally occuring coloured diamonds are big money. Cubics are cheap and hard to distinguish the difference if not used to looking at them. With white stones the eye can detect the splitting effect a cubic has, you detect a spectrum in it that you don't see with a diamond and the absense of any inclusions under magnification is also a give away. A diamond tester measures the refractive properties of stones by firing in a laser which can easily sort out CZ from Diamond.
Of course there is moissanite around too these days, its still expensive but half the cost of diamonds...it can test as diamond but has double refraction where a diamond has single refraction.
As a response to Broseph there are many different values that can be attatched to a piece of jewellery. Insurance valuation is always a generous amount of what it would cost to replace, retail value, trade value, melt value etc etc
You can buy CZ's for pennies so any jeweller disregards their presence in a valuation, a ring like this weights a couple of grams of silver and is only worth the scrap value. However if pollished back to bare silver or replated I am sure it would be restored to its former level of attractiveness.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10045 Posts |
Perhaps it's a style, but I find it odd to mount so many small stones if they were synthetic like CZ.  A diamond tester at any jeweler is quick--but unless the stones are dirty, they don't have the right fire. If you have an UV light, I would try illuminating the stones. Kunzite will fluoresce pink, as will pink sapphires. Another option, although unlikely due to the quality of the setting--do the stones change color from daylight to artificial light? Edited by DVCollector
09/16/2012 01:20 am
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Moderator
United States
16679 Posts |
It's a very intricate design for someone to fashion that from sterling.
Could be low quality pink tourmaline or high quality Rose Quartz.
swcoin.ecrater.com
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Pillar of the Community
United States
802 Posts |
What's the estimated value? Nice find where at?
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
Being a CZ piece, 99% of the value is tied up in the labour costs in it's manufacture.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4333 Posts |
I took the ring to a jeweler the morning of the dig. I suspected that it was plated. The stones were not tested, as I assumed they were CZ.
Thanks for the comments!
When I listen to LED ZEPPELIN...so do my neighbors...
Roll hunting since '77
Dirt fishing since '72
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Moderator
United States
16679 Posts |
Just curious, how deep was it?
swcoin.ecrater.com
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2624 Posts |
Someone only fashioned it once and then used the mount they made to cast from. Unless you can see solder joins in the head of the piece it is very unlikely that this is a one off hand made piece and far more likely that it is a mass produced cluster ring.
Edited by DavidUK
09/16/2012 4:44 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4333 Posts |
Quote:
Just curious, how deep was it? It was shallow enough that I could pinpoint it with my in-line probe, so, about 1" deep. Right before I dug this ring, a previous signal on the turf turned out to be a 925 sterling band. I also pinpointed that ring easily, as it was just under the grass. When I listen to LED ZEPPELIN...so do my neighbors...
Roll hunting since '77
Dirt fishing since '72
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Moderator
United States
16679 Posts |
I like finding stuff that has barely "started it's venture down". I dug a State Quarter one time that was 6" down...go figure. swcoin.ecrater.com
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Replies: 19 / Views: 3,635 |
Posted 09/07/2012 9:23 pm
