So I will start with a little background. I have obtained a belle epoque ring with diamonds, a pearl and 3 red stones that have major facet abrasions. The red stones are vivid and have extremely strong red fluorescence. At first look i was almost certain they were some sort of synthetic but the ring seemed to be of nice craftsmanship. I then took a look under the microscope and have attached a photo of some internal inclusions, i didn't notice any curved striata. My question is can these be platinum seed crystals? they seemed a bit more angular than what i have seen online from my limited research. I also included some stamps on the ring which could possibly date the ring to perhaps see if it was created before flame fusion ruby was commercially available.
To sum it up i know i haven't included enough info for a positive ID but i would like to know if this seems like a natural gem before i send it off to a gem lab.
Thanks, Mike
Attachments:
AnimalStamp.jpg [ 2.39 MiB | Viewed 1920 times ]
AStamp.jpg [ 2.61 MiB | Viewed 1920 times ]
InclusionRed2.jpg [ 3.27 MiB | Viewed 1920 times ]
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:22 pm Posts: 21602 Location: San Francisco
Possibly spinel. Can you supply a picture of the entire ring, please? What is the metal? Have you sorted out the stamps? A in a lozenge appears to be a date stamp. The hallmark, I can't make out.
If natural I thought maybe spinel or ruby based on the strong red under UV, I know an RI or spectrum would sort much out but i do not have the equipment ...there are 3 stones and the largest has an orange modifier, the two smaller have very slight purple...I will take a photo of the entire ring when i am back home. The gold appears in color to be 18K but i have not tested it.
I researched the stamps and came up with nothing. There are many English date stamps with a capital A but none with the line or 1 underneath. The "A" stamp is on the side of ring on a baskets base. The other stamp inside the shank is some type of horned animal head with what appears to be a 3 to the left and 4 to the right. I cropped it better, maybe easier to see?
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:22 pm Posts: 21602 Location: San Francisco
I checked every page of World Hallmarks and didn't get a hit. on that picture. The closest thing to it was some Austro-Hungarian The fineness of the gold, 14k, 18k, PLAT will also help with dating.
Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2012 4:47 am Posts: 20 Location: Austria
To the hallmark:
The horned animal is a "Gämse" (rupicapra rupicapra). The hallmark was stamped between 1872 and 1922 in Austria for 750/1000 gold, the shown letter "A" is the office mark of "Punzierungsamt Wien I" (Vienna assay office I).
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