Old European diamond and synthetic emerald ring

My mom gave me a ring that was given to her by my paternal grandmother about 45 years ago. I had it appraised by a licensed gemologist, so I know a bit about the stones and gold band, but I know nothing about the origins of it. It's a gold ring with an 585 stamp (14k in the US), which leads me to believe it's from Europe. It has both mine cut and old European cut diamonds, and scratched up synthetic emerald in the center. There are also initials engraved on the band, but they're unintelligible from wear. Now here's the interesting info:

• The emerald has a chip in the corner, within the setting. The gemologist flat out said that it was not the original stone.
• My grandma was a Holocaust survivor who lived in Poland (now Belarus) pre-war, but I highly doubt that if she had this ring then, that it would not have been taken by the Nazis like all of her family's other belongings.
• I ALSO highly doubt that she acquired it after the war when she was in a DP camp in Germany; after that she came straight to the US.

It's possible it was a gift from my grandpa to her, and it just happened to be a European ring, but I don't think my grandpa would have bought her a ring she didn't like, and the sizing would have been too big for her fingers (8.5! I had it resized to a 4.25 and it still slips!)

SO. Any ideas?

 

Large photos could help.........

 

Welcome catdeco.
The ring looks beautiful, although the picture is very small. Can you post full image ones?
I think you mean it is stamped 585, which is indeed 14k.
Could it have been in your grandfather's family before your grandmother got it?
The post-war days were very confusing, with the strangest encounters. Your grandmother could also have been given the ring by someone who was grateful for something special she did for that person. Not all displaced persons came from concentration camps. There were also refugees, some of whom managed to smuggle jewellery in the seams of their clothing. A grateful refugee could have given it to your grandmother. This happened to my grandmother when she had taken refugees into her home during the last year of the war. After the war the refugee family was lucky enough to return home, and the mother of the family gave my grandmother a ring she had smuggled in her clothing, as a way of thanking her.

 

Oops. Yes, I meant 585; I've updated my post. That's also a possibility (re: another DP giving it to her)! That's such a great story about your grandmother. I have a theory about a secret boyfriend, but it's completely unfounded. My grandpa would not have had it before America if that was the case. His family was in poverty before the start of the war, and he went through countless concentration camps before ending up in Italy, then the US. So much mystery! I'll take a few new pictures after dinner and post them. Thanks

 

That was the clearest picture I have, taken by the appraiser. I'll take some new ones and will post more pictures after dinner.

 

nice ring..........

 

How old was the gemologist and how was the "emerald" tested?

 

http://negemlab.com/massachusetts-and-florida/ That's her. Maybe 60's? She examined it under a microscope and saw bubbles, indicating that it was lab-grown.

 

The style is ca. 1900. Old European cut diamonds were all the rage, and old mine cut diamonds were still in fashion.
The diamonds are mounted in white gold, possibly platinum. The white colour gives the diamonds a better, clearer reflection. Reflection, bling, was important for formal jewellery of that period, it reflected the candlelight and gaslight of the time. In the 19th century they would have used silver mounts on a gold ring, for the same reason.
Given the period, I have no reason to believe a synthetic emerald is not original to the ring. In those days synthetic gemstones were often more expensive than natural ones. But if there are bubbles, it could be glass, which is different from the lab grown stones that are usually called synthetic. Glass stones were very popular at the time and often combined with real gemstones.
Going by the original size of the ring, it would have been worn over a glove. Picture an elegant lady of that era, wearing a silk dress with long silk gloves and this ring to a formal occasion.

 

Might even be British. We used 585 as a mark and not all gold had full hallmarks. I've certainly seen that style of setting here.

 

Yes, it could be. It was very fashionable at the time, so you see this style in many countries.

 

WOW. So good. I just looked up 1900s gemstone rings and found quite a few that are incredibly similar. the stone is definitely synthetic though, not glass. The reason the gemologist believes it's not the original stone is because of the location of the chip.

 

I'm a bit leary of this: if she saw bubbles, it's glass. Did she use a spectrometer?

 

Yes

 

What did it read as?

 

I don't know the technical details, but here are screenshots of the official appraisal:

 

Hi,
Thanks for the report. I have a mans 14kt gold ring from the 20s with a large plastic ruby. Why use a plastic, glass would have been better. My great aunts necklace has 25 small diamonds and a fake emerald. I wondered why?
greg

 

Not sure about the plastic or glass, but synthetic colored stones were basically seen as the jewelry of the future (perfect color, perfect clarity, etc), and were considered very high tech. That made them more valuable at the time, so often with jewelry from that era, there will be jewelry with synthetic colored stones but natural diamonds.

 

I have a Russian gold ring given to a family friend as a thank you for sheltering someone near the end of the war. If it could only talk.