Antique 3 Carats Old Mine Cut DIAMOND Scalloped Oval Navette Ring Champagne Fancy Light Brown Green Yellow Cluster 18k Gold Silver OMC

I am back from my inventory trip to Europe with quite a lot of antique treasures to share with you! I will be rolling out new pieces almost every week from now, all the way through the year. Please stay tuned and feel free to follow on Instagram!

ABOUT:
Those that follow me I'm sure see my weakness for diamond clusters and navettes are a personal fav - I love their drama! But even more than all that - I love finding old cuts with hues, making them so much more interesting and uncommon than colorless /whites. I got this one in Paris and it offers an excellent combination of unique coloring, chunky cuts and a lovely sparkle. The 15 chunky diamonds total well over 3 carats and create a scalloped ring face shape. The mix of hues is detectible in all lighting conditions but really light up in direct light. So fun to see how they seem to change color from room to room.

I purchased this in Paris on my inventory sourcing trip there last year. Sturdy shank with a rich antique rosy gold patina, it has French hallmarks for 18k and silver.

What we love about antiques are their quirkiness and this piece has it. Some of the stones are warm, having been cut during the period when the mines used produced warmer rough stones. A handful are fancy light brown to champagne in color, two of the larger stones at the center are a more vibrant greenish yellow. All natural diamonds, each one of a kind having been hand cut in much more limited quantity compared to the millions of carats produced each year now. This one is all about antique character.

This piece is crafted in 18k gold and the ring face is topped in silver to set the diamonds as was customary for the period to set diamonds in a white metal. This also helps provide contrast to the colored stones. The outside edges of the ring have a smooth Demi bezel with bead prongs at the center for added texture..

Antique box / props not included. Please note the measurements as I have small fingers and it can be difficult to determine scale from pictures.

MEASUREMENTS:
Nine of the largest stones are about 4-4.1mm each give or take, chunky cuts measuring about .3 carat each. Four smallest are about 3mm and there is a pair at 3.7mm. Exact depth of the diamonds is unknown as I would not remove them but estimated carat weight is over 3 carats.

The ring is a size 6 1/2 and weighs 2.4g. The ring face is 22x12.6mm and stands 5.3mm tall off the finger.

IMPORTANT CONDITION NOTES:

Please note that all my pieces are pre-owned and in estate condition. A bit of wear to the silver settings. None of the stones move but it's just under magnification where I can see some wear to the bezel or a bead prong here and there.
Typical antique diamonds with some natural inclusions, only one tiny not eye visible carbon speck to one stone. The rest some frosty spots and specks with just one of the smallest stones appearing a bit frosty overall but some of the diamonds are eye clean as well. The small frosty one has some small flakes / shards of loss to one edge but is still round and fills the space to appear complete in form. It just has a small unpolished area that contributes to the frostiness. One other smaller stone has an inclusion that carries up to the surface and one of the medium sized outlining stones has a larger frosty inclusion on one side. The color helps mask this some. The diamonds look quite ancient with free form culets and chunky shapes. A Wonderful and impactful antique sparkler. I love antique diamonds, even those with inclusions typical for the time, because some of those were still among the best available in the market during that period, and were expertly cut by hand. I especially love this unique piece from Paris with the mix of hues.

But - Please note due to age, this piece is not in mint condition. Pictures also serve as part of the description and condition report so please utilize the zoom feature which will magnify any wear significantly more than what is visible to the eye while wearing : )

I would be delighted if you'd follow me in my shop. Thanks for stopping by!

SOCIAL:
Please feel free watch @mouseshouseantiques on insta for inventory drops, sneak peaks and previews!

About Antique Diamonds:

The whole "4 C's" of cut, color, clarity, carat didn't come about until the 1940s so prior to that and especially on antique pieces, there was not as much emphasis placed on those things. (Sure people probably appreciated a certain look of a certain diamond as it appeared to the eye but it was not a graded scale like we have today.) So it is difficult to judge antique stones against modern day diamonds and their grading system. No two old cuts are the same as they were crafted in times lacking any modern standards. The diamond cutters of the time were experts at hand cutting each stone to enhance it which means that even lower color grades can be cut to appear whiter. (Although it is also worth noting that many antique collectors prefer and seek out antique diamonds with warmer hues.)

It is also interesting that "lower graded" diamonds in today's scale system, were some of the best on the market during this period! So it is less about their grades and more about the unique play of light and color that each one can offer. I read one article that put it: “When searching for the perfect old cut diamond (for you), you need to view them through different eyes as you would for a modern diamond, Laboratory grading reports don’t offer too much information in regards to their individual beauty or sparkle which are based more on their individual character and uniqueness that each one potentially offers.”

Box#tmqc.2^2