Description

Yellow Gold Victorian Ruby and Rose Cut Diamond Halo Ring (Vintage)

Like music and art, there are certain pieces of jewelry that just speak to you. When our founder, WendyKate was in Las Vegas at the Antique Jewelry and Watch Show, she ran across this Victorian ruby ring. The ruby’s color was outstanding, as was its clarity, so much so that she had to stop and ask. It was so unusual. You just don’t see rubies like this outside of royal collections. It was a day for WK to learn something new, however. For on tiny decade during Victorian times (1880-1890), reconstituted rubies were made. What does that mean, you ask? We asked the same thing. You take tiny ruby chips, grind them to dust, mix them together with a medium and heat the mixture up to crazy high temps (think the forming of the planet kind of temps). And voila. You get a gem stone resembling that of a natural ruby with gorgeous color and exceptional clarity.

Why did they stop making them this way, you might ask? Well, unlike 100% natural corundum, these stones can’t take any heat. So back in Victorian days (or the not so Victorian days of the early 1990’s when WK learned the trade), when the only way to size a ring was with high heat to the shank to melt the gold and solder things together, the stones would shatter. These days we have things like laser welders that make the job so much easier. So we can see why they stopped making them back in the day but as long as you tell your jeweler what you have, they are very wearable rings today. And very rare (which makes sense, since many of these stones didn’t make it early on).

What We Love About It:

That ruby! Oh my goodness the color is divine. Like a sweet strawberry. And it’s almost entirely inclusion free, so you can see straight to the bottom. The rose cut diamonds are the perfect surround and we almost always love rubies in yellow gold.

The Deets:

The ring was sold to us as 14kt yellow gold but we tested it and feel it’s closer to 12ct, which would make sense give its age. It is also in excellent shape and practically unworn, so there is a chance that the stones have been reset into this mounting. The prong-set (20!) cushion cut ruby is a bright, clear red with flashes of magenta in the right light. The ruby measures approximately 11mm x 9mm. There are also  20 rose cut diamonds, set in white gold, forming a halo surround. They are clear and bright but we don’t have an official grade on them. Our estimate is F-H color and SI1- I1 clarity. We estimate the ruby to be about 4cts and the diamonds to be about .20ctw. The ring is currently a size 6.5 US but could be sized by our jeweler (message us first for pricing and details) our yours, as long as they’ve been made aware that the ring can’t take heat and they will HAVE to use a laser welder*.

If you love rubies, this is one way to get one of considerable size with amazing color and clarity, without breaking the bank. A natural ruby like this would run over $20k, IF you could find one. That makes our Victorian Ruby and Rose Cut Diamond ring a total steal!

*Katie Callahan and Co. recommends having our jeweler complete any sizing needs. Should you choose to have another jeweler size this ring, we accept no responsibility for its condition and the buyer will accept all risk. This is also not an everyday ring, given that work to it will need to be held to a minimum.