XL French Antique 3 CARATS CHUNKY Old Mine Cut Diamond Ring with Box Bypass 18k White Gold

ABOUT:

I love most all antique diamonds but wow are these especially Chunky! Sturdy freeform bypass ring with large diamonds that catch the eye from across the room. A real statement piece and one of my personal favorites. The nine wonderful old mine cuts with their high crowns angle across the curved ring face for beautiful movement. Incredible sparkle and a very unique design. It is a show stopper.

This will come WITH one of my antique box. I don't usually include boxes as they have value on their own but I thought this one deserved to be housed in a special casing so I will grab one from my collection to send it in.

French hallmarks for 18k gold with a partial goldsmith stamp.

MEASUREMENTS:
Size 5 1/2, the ring face is 25mm north to south on the finger with the two curves of the bypass. It stands about 6mm off the finger. The five larger stones are each 4.7 to 4.8mm cushion cuts. Those then lead to smaller diamonds, one on one side of the bypass and 3 on the other, each measuring 2-2.5mm. Exact carat weight is not known as I would not remove the stones from the setting, but just using honesty, online calculators and estimates by mm it is around 3 carats total weight in diamonds. It weighs a sturdy 7.5 grams.

IMPORTANT CONDITION NOTES:

All my pieces are preowned and in estate condition. Typical antique diamonds with a slight warmth to some - often chosen intentionally by diamond cutters of the time and even sought after by collectors. As these were hand cut long before the four c's of grading modern diamonds ever existed. These may have some faintest inclusions, but I see nothing glaring even under very strong magnification and definitely no dark or carbon inclusions, absolutely nothing eye visible. A really beautiful sparkle with "Kozibe Effect" especially to the larger stones. One of the larger stones has a nibble to the girdle seen under magnification, I cannot spot it with my eyes. One of the smaller diamonds has a few small nicks leaving a frosty spot, again only under magnification.

While it is typical for antique hand cut diamonds to have what are considered "imperfections" when comparing it to modern machine cut diamond and the Four C's grading scale which came about way later, these antique diamonds are actually quite exceptional for the period in clarity and condition. Uniform surface wear. It is such an interesting piece, fun to wear and stack. Never seen another like it.

Still perfectly wearable and so elegant. I have additional photos/video besides those allowed here so feel free to request additional.

But as with all my estate pieces - Please note this is not a mint condition item.

Thanks so much for looking at my items!

SOCIAL:
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A note 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 nicely: “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.”
Just an interesting comparison of antique vs. modern diamonds. : ). Often there are variations of diamonds in the same piece as the goldsmiths created pieces with the stones they had available to them.

Box#Tm.^3