Oval Navette French ANTIQUE 1.35 Carat Old Mine Cut DIAMOND Rose Halo Cluster Ring 18k Gold Platinum Topped Victorian

ABOUT:

Versatile French antique oval navette ring - this one has three chunky old mine cuts down a line in the center surrounded by a halo of 12 rose cuts around the outline totaling 1.35 carats total weight in diamonds on this ring.

The ring has a nice, completely encrusted sparkle, with banded shank in rosy antique 18k gold. The ring face is topped in platinum as was customary to set the diamonds in a white metal. Difficult to part with! Amazing glitter factor with a nice chunky footprint the finger and for antique diamonds these have a very nice rainbow fire to them.  I also love the cobblestone texture of these diamond encrusted ring faces. A timeless classic and a real show stopper with exceptional sparkle factor.

I love the drama of navettes and as with this example, the slightly more oval versions are quite popular as well. Also fun to find a mix of antique cuts on the same ring.

Found in France with French antique hallmark for 18k gold used primarily in the 1800s, which helps us determine that the ring face is platinum, because white gold was not yet used by the time the hallmark was discontinued.

Antique box in photos is not included. Please note the measurements as I have small fingers and it can be difficult to determine scale from pictures. Feel free to also request more photos or video as I have many besides those allowed here.

SIZE & MEASUREMENTS:

Size 6 1/4 on my mandrel.

Weight is 4 grams.

The ring face is 17x11mm and 5mm off the finger. The largest center diamond is 4.2mm and around .35 carat alone. The other two old mine cuts are about 2.8mm / .1 carat each. Each rose cut around the outline is also about 2.8mm each with a nice dome to it compared to many that are quite thinly sliced disk - totaling around .8 carat for all of those. Exact depths of each and thereby carat weight are unknown as I would not remove them for exact measurements but it is estimated around 1.35 carat total weight in diamonds.

IMPORTANT CONDITION NOTES:

Some of the characteristics we typically find on antique diamonds like some rough and uneven edges to the rose cuts - no dark, carbon or eye visible inclusions, no chips, but some faint frosty natural inclusions seen under strong magnification here or there. For the most part you have to hunt to find them. The outlines of the rose cuts appear additionally frosty from buildup to the back. This one was filthy when I acquired it and I spent quite a lot of time cleaning it but it could use some more soaking and gentle scrubbing inside the harder to reach places. A worn prong here or there to keep an eye on over time. Each stone has at least one that is worn back, but has enough length on the others to hold it in place. This is typical for age and could be reinforced for daily wear by your local jeweler if desired (you'd want to find someone with a laser welder and ask them to do the minimum possible vs. re-tipping every prong and unnecessarily over working the piece to make it "like new"). Most of my buyers prefer original condition and special occasion wear. I think the inside around the old mine cuts may have already been reinforced. Gorgeous glowing gold patina to the gold.

However several of the stones shift when tapping and the prongs have some wear. This one needs gentler wear for that reason but most of my buyers prefer original condition. If more regular wear is desired, you'd want to inquire locally for someone with a laser welder and ask them to do the minimum to reinforce it, as some modern jewelers can overwork antiques to make them "like new" which most of us in the "antique jewelry addicts" club try to avoid : ) The ring is quite a site to behold.

Please note that all my pieces are pre-owned and in estate condition. They will have patina, surface wear, a few small nicks. These pieces may also have evidence of a sizing, some build up around the stones and / or inclusions seen under magnification, typical for antique pieces. I have mentioned any noticeable issues above and they are all still wearable and eager to be loved and accepted for many years to come, (the preservation of antique jewelry, even those with signs of their age and history, is important to me. : )
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 enjoy making my customers happy and matching unique pieces with new homes. Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions! It means a lot to me that you are visiting my shop! : )

SOCIAL:
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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 for machine cut stones.) It is difficult to judge antique stones against modern day diamonds with their grading system evaluating their mathematically perfected proportions using methods and standards that didn’t exist for hand cut old cut diamonds. No two old cuts are the same as they were crafted in times lacking those 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. It is also interesting that "lower graded" diamonds in today's scale system, were some of the best on the market during this period. I read one article that states: “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.”

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