Before You Junk That Junk Jewelry....

[Sirius]

These two pieces (left and middle) were stuck together. When I finally got it apart it looked way better than the conglomerate it was!

[Jeff McClendon]

On 2/1/2023 at 8:01 AM, Digalicious said:

Kind of similar:

On a different site, I recall some guy telling people not to bother checking the stones on silver rings because, "No one puts valuable stones in silver rings".

I couldn't find a facepalm large enough to reply with.

Natural diamonds are not usually set in .925 silver rings. It’s all about the mark-up/money.  Spot price for 1 gram of .925 silver right now is $0.70 US. 1 gram of 10K gold is $25. 1 gram of 24K is $60 US. Most engagement style rings like Ken found, weigh in the 2 to 5 gram range without the gemstones and jewelry makers are going to mark up the setting by a minimum 3 times that price or a lot more depending on who made the setting and how.

Lab grown diamonds and moissanite which is lab grown silicon carbide can be found in .925 silver like Ken found out and you can find them in gold, white gold, platinum and plated silver.

Moissanite does not have a natural cleavage plane like diamonds. It breaks like glass in rounded fractures. That is good for faceting and makes it easier to make a shiny, smooth girdle which also helps with brilliance. Cubic zirconia has the same property. If you see a shiny, highly polished, continuous girdle on a faceted gemstone that appears to be a diamond……….probably isn’t.

Cubic zirconia can also be set in .925 silver and in bling pot metal/brass settings.

Anytime I see .925 stamped on jewerly it goes in the “good” container instead of the junk/bling container and deserves a close look.

A faceted 1 carat low to medium grade natural diamond can start at $1000 and up. A moissanite of the same size and grade starts at around $199 retail.

Lots of people like flashy jewerly and lots of people can’t afford natural or lab grown diamonds. Moissanite is a good alternative both for price and quality.  Cubic Zirconia is bling quality.

So valuable meaning stones worth thousands of dollars retail are not usually found in .925 silver alone settings unless it’s custom made.

 

[Digalicious]

Thanks for that Jeff.

I haven't even yet checked the stones on my silver rings, or the gold rings for that matter 🙂

My point is that the silver rings shouldn't go unchecked due to the amount of people allergic to some of the gold ring alloys, but especially the people who want a precious stone, but find gold "tacky" and prefer the silver look. The latter seems to be especially true with the younger generation.

[Jeff McClendon]

16 minutes ago, Digalicious said:

Thanks for that Jeff.

I haven't even yet checked the stones on my silver rings, or the gold rings for that matter 🙂

My point is that the silver rings shouldn't go unchecked due to the amount of people allergic to some of the gold ring alloys, but especially the people who want a precious stone, but find gold "tacky" and prefer the silver look. The latter seems to be especially true with the younger generation.

That’s why white gold and platinum/ silver alloy are much more common now. 
 

Yellow gold jewelry and natural diamonds have some bad connotations for many people. 
 

So the jewelry industry created a new, very lucrative market for cubic zirconia and moissanite back in the 1980s and the non yellow gold settings industry joined in for the fun and big profits. Lab grown diamonds of gem quality came out in the early 2000s. All of those people who complained about blood diamonds created a new market!!!!!
 

[phrunt]

On 2/2/2023 at 2:33 PM, kac said:

I have another silver ring that has diamonds, they aren't big but still. Not all silver has junk stones.

Some people prefer silver, and some can't even wear gold, they can have al allergy to it, or the nickel in it at least. 

[UT Dave]

I'm allergic to gold (and nickel).  I dug a thin 14K chain last summer that I doubted was real (hallmark on the clasp too tiny to read).  Put it on around my neck for the short drive home.  Walked into the kitchen 20 minutes later and my Wife asked if I found anything good.  I said this chain but it's probably fake.  She said, no it's real, you're breaking out in a rash already 😁.

- Dave

[kac]

Gold has filler metals especially rose gold that has a high copper content to give it that rich color. Pure 24k would be too soft for most jewelry. Many high end thin designs use 10k not because it costs less but rather it is more durable.

Always good way to check if the stone is lab grown or natural is to look for inclusions inside. Lab grown stones have none, natural do. Even the highest end diamonds will have a bit of dirt inside.

[mn90403]

Woman nearly discards diamond worth $3M after mistaking it for toy (nypost.com)

[Sirius]

On 2/10/2023 at 10:28 AM, UT Dave said:

I'm allergic to gold (and nickel).  I dug a thin 14K chain last summer that I doubted was real (hallmark on the clasp too tiny to read).  Put it on around my neck for the short drive home.  Walked into the kitchen 20 minutes later and my Wife asked if I found anything good.  I said this chain but it's probably fake.  She said, no it's real, you're breaking out in a rash already 😁.

- Dave

No need for an acid test, just do a skin test!