Back in 2012 after hurricane Sandy, I found several nice rings that made their way to the bank safety deposit box.
One heavy gold ring really stood out, at the time I found the ring I thought it had an old look about it , especially as it was found at a beach where a mid 19th century ship wrecked opposite.
Old stuff has been found on this beach when coastal storms have stripped the sand away from the base of the dunes.
Although the ring was unmarked, I assumed the ring was modern because of the two diamonds.
When I first found the gold ring I had a neighbor who used to work in a jewelry store take a look at it, 18 K gold with a 5 carat emerald, and probably a $5000.00 ring was the best guess.
Fast forward to yesterday and I finally got around to taking a few nicer rings recovered over the last couple of years for proper appraisals.
One of rings I had appraised yesterday was this nice ring, that I now wish I had made more of an effort to identify correctly.
I came away from the jewelry store with a totally different professional take on the ring, and I was wrong to assume it was a modern piece of jewelry.
It is an old 18 K gold ring dating back to the 1800s, with a really nice old piece of jade and two old cut diamonds. I am even happier with the $6500.00 appraisal!
I have heard a few stories of people scrapping rings, and later finding out the ring was old.
Obviously, I never gave any thought to scrapping this ring because I believed it was an emerald.
This experience has also shown me the importance of getting more gem stone savvy, so I can better learn to identify colored stones mounted in recovered gold and silver jewelry.
I was also invited to sit in the back of the jewelry store and saw a couple of pieces of platinum and gold jewelry I had taken in, soldered and repaired.
Now my wife can wear the repaired jewelry without losing them like the unlucky previous owner.
Nice bling is definately one of the perks of being a beach and shallow water hunter.
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