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Finally a ring, but could use some help

Sanderling

Sanderling

Member
After several months of finding clad and not much else I found this 925 blue sapphire ring today. The ID was bouncing between 34 and in the 20s, so I decided to dig it. Thought it would be a penny, but to my happy surprise it was a ring. I intially thought it was just junk (and it still might be), but there is a 925 hallmark and a lady at the beach told me it was a blue sapphire. There is also a CN mark and another one that is too small for my old eyes to make out. Later I did another swipe of the ring on the beach and it came up as a 23. Started looking around on the Web for something similar and found rings from $10.00 to $25,000.00 (yeah I wish). Anywho, I wondered if anyone might have something similar and could possibly tell me what it might be worth. The wife has already claimed it and I am happy to give it to her. Merry Christmas everyone!
 
If its on 925, it isnt going to be an expensive stone/ring. Sorry.
From all the stones I have seen on 925, most of them are glass or quartz. (yours isn't quartz). There are some that are lab grown, but I have never seen a really nice natural stone on 925.

One quick way to tell if a stone is glass/lab grown is to examine it under the highest power magnification that you can. Natural stones (essentially)ALL have bubbles, inclusions and fracture planes(the latter can be hard to see). .


Are you SURE its 925? Its ringing up in the gold ring range (20s) and if that's the case it changes my stone guess completely. Maybe white gold.....?
 
Get it tested for platinum. If your not sure about the marks? seeing that silvery color suggests it may (or may not)! be Platinum. It sure is a pretty ring!
 
It is marked 925, but I cannot tell if the stone is real or not and do not have a powerful magnifier. It is pretty light ant that was why I thought it was just junk. Why 23? I do not know. Why does an old silver dollar come up as 36? GS and I had this discussion previously. GS - what is the significance of the 999 at the bottom of each category in the chart that you sent? It is a pretty ring, the wife is happy, so it's all good.
 
Sanderling.....If your eyes are like mine, I have a hard time identifying the smaller marks on some rings and jewellery when they are well worn. I posted just a random chart from the Internet to remind us all that a Plat mark can perhaps be mistaken for a silver mark if, like I mentioned the inside of the ring is well worn, just in case that's the situation with your ring? Of course if the 925 mark is distinct, well...that's definitely silver! I used to repair antique watches and antique clock's and now that my eyes are not as good as years gone by and even though I use loupe's, I just repair clocks now and not the watches! If you want to know for sure about the stone, usually a good jeweller would be willing to tell you on the spot if it's a genuine stone or not.

Sanderling said:
It is marked 925, but I cannot tell if the stone is real or not and do not have a powerful magnifier. It is pretty light ant that was why I thought it was just junk. Why 23? I do not know. Why does an old silver dollar come up as 36? GS and I had this discussion previously. GS - what is the significance of the 999 at the bottom of each category in the chart that you sent? It is a pretty ring, the wife is happy, so it's all good.
Click to expand...
 
GS although a little tough to see, even with a loupe, I am 99% sure it is a 925. The first two digits are definitely 92, the 5 is a little harder to read, probably due to wear as you mentioned. Good idea about taking it to a jeweler, in fact we have a top notch watch and clock repair guy here that I have done business with for years, so I think I will do just that next time I am in his shop. I tried to see any bubbles or flaws that KinTn suggested. I saw none. The wife has a genuine blue sapphire and sure enough it had a visible bubble in it. Another great thing about this hobby is what you learn about finds and jewelry due to guys like you and KinTn.
 
I've been fooled plenty after a lifetime of rockhounding and making my living as a geologist. I spent a lot of time over a microscope looking at minerals and even when the gem folks call a stone 'flawless', it isn't. There are other ways to tell if specific minerals are naturally occurring or lab grown, but I'd have to find my where I put my cheat sheets(I'm more of a mineral than a gem guy). Hardness is a good indicator in a sapphire as it is a LOT harder than glass or even quartz. But it is much better if you have a local guy that can do a hands on examination. IDing a mineral/gem over the net works about as well as conveying sarcasm in text.

If you really want to learn about gemstones, heres a great place: http://www.gemologyproject.com/wiki/index.php?title=Table_Of_Contents

fwiw, I once found a huge silver ring with a massive star sapphire. but even tho it passed some corundum (mineral name of ruby and sapphire) tests, it just didn't look right (too opaque imo) and I kept investigating. Finally realized it was real, but a lab grown stone and fairly inexpensive. My hopes were tempered all along because I just didn't think anyone would cheap out on the setting of a real star sapphire of that size. Your ring is so pretty, I'm still holding out hope that youre misreading the hallmark! Be sure and let us know what the jeweler says.
 
Stopped by my jeweler friend today. The ring is 925, synthetic sapphire and the smaller stones are glass. Guess I should jump on my wife's $30 bid.
 
Synthetic is way better than glass!
And wasn't it fun while it lasted.
Gotta agree with trezurhunter too.

Ya know, its still a puzzle to me why it reads in the 20s/34. The Safari has always screamed 39 at me 100% of the time it got over any silver. I wonder if theres some lead solder holding something together on it. Bottom line is that any day that you bring home silver is a Good Hunting Day in my book. And that's one very nice REAL SAPPHIRE ring.
 
Well...at least its not a penny! Nice ring none the less. Lets hope you find more soon!
 
Hey, Kin. I am a geologist as well. Good info.
 
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