Georgian 9k 4.20 CT Modern Smokey Gray-Blue Moissanite Ring from Converted Mourning Ring Inscribed 1825

General Information:

• US Size: 5.50 and sizable post-purchase if so desired
• Total Carat Weight: 4.20 ct
• Precious Metal Weight:  1.9 dwt
• Precious Metal Material: 9k yellow gold
• Dimensions: This ring faces up a little over 10 mm north to south.
• Weight: A nice 2.95 grams
• Markings: The interior of this ring is hand-inscribed with “Mary 1825”, followed by a "PSR" maker’s mark inside a rounded cartouche. Next, a " 9 .375" mark indicates 9k gold content. Next is a pairing of assay marks: an encircled leopard head for London) and an encircled italicized letter t is stamped, which dates it to 1974.
• Era: The mount is believed to date to the late Georgian to mid Victorian years, while the hallmarked extender component is a later addition, dating to the mid 1970s.
• Buyer Notes: A lovely collector's piece, this ring very likely began life as a mourning ring and was later converted to accommodate the modern stone it now houses. It's possible that this ring originally centered some form of hariwork and/or a glass locket. The hallmarked portion of the shank is believed to be a later resizing bar, which accounts for its presence and stamped dates.

Specifications:

• Center Stone Type: Moissanite
• Center Stone Count: One (1)
• Center Stone Dimensions: 9.5 x 9.6 x 3.2 mm
• Center Stone Carat Weight:  4.20 ct by formula per the specific gravity of moissanite; this stone visually reads as a 2.07 ct diamond
• Center Stone Shape:  Square Cushion Cut
• Center Stone Color: Smokey gray-brown to warm charcoal blue-gray
  
• Center Stone Clarity: Translucent to semi-translucent
• Center Stone Notes: 

The Story:

Dating to the late Georgian to early Victorian era, this handcrafted 9k yellow gold mounting features etched scrollwork on its shoulders and two ‘pinched’ details three quarters of the way down the band towards its base. The face of the ring is accentuated with a trio of raised gold spherical forms extending from the center stone’s north and south sides. One small portion of this design element has been reconstructed at one point, and bears the effects of well over a century's worth of wear.

This moissanite is incredibly unique, and is a deep, smokey color that, because of its wide and low faceting and its overall translucency, refracts color brightly and clearly at its center. In some lights, the stone reads grayish-brown, in others, a deep charcoal, and in still others a bluer-gray. This stone has flashes of vivid red-orange, orange and yellow, dramatically emphasizing the color of the stone. Sometimes, it appears a moody mixture of all such colors in this range, also pulling tones from the environment around it. While most moissanites are designed to mimic the idealest of diamonds in color and clarity, this one is far more intriguing in its depth and variance of color.

While the ring now exhibits a cushion cut moissanite gemstone, it would have likely originally been a mourning hair locket under glass-- an inference taken from both the shape of the opening of the mount, and the inscription found on the interior of the shank: the band boasts a hand-inscribed “Mary 1825”, indicating the birthdate of the ring’s original honoree. The date mark present inside the shank is strictly to indicate that the gold component at the base of the shank was added during the 1970s. Though we do not know her story, Mary's life continues to be upheld as new life is breathed into a very old jewel.

With a desirable low profile, a unique and interwoven history and a truly unparalleled chroma, this show-stopping ring is as rich in color and wearability as it is in stories. Most mourning conversions are created from a stick pin or brooch, though this piece maintains its identity as a ring, and has had a modern, sustainable update with its center stone. A curious and extraordinary statement ring, this rare beauty has lifetimes of wear left in it.

The Stone:

Why choose moissanite? Research shows that moissanite was discovered in the early 1890s and named in 1905 by French Nobel Prize winner Ferdinand F.H. Moissan. The stone is found as a very small conchoidal crystalline mineral originally formed from the star dust found in meteorites, and is, therefore, exceptionally rare. Because of its miniscule size, most moissanite jewelry is actually a composite of the tiny crystals. In fact, the largest natural moissanite crystal found is reportedly only around 4 mm in size. Moissanites are eco-friendly and conflict-free, have a refractive index of 2.65 (versus diamonds at 2.42), a Mohs hardness of 9.25 (versus diamonds at 10).

Naturally-occurring moissanite is relatively transparent, is green, black to gray, blue, yellow and sometimes colorless, and is known to reflect a grayish fiery sparkle in the light. The moissanite in this ring does just that. Likewise, this moissanite fluoresces a very subtle violet bluish-purple; natural moissanite can sometimes fluoresce a blue to medium orange hue. Synthetic moissanite can be safely polished in a single direction because polishing a synthetic does not need to be guided by the crystalline hardness structure. On the other hand, natural stones, including diamond and moissanite, must be polished according to the direction of the hardness. The result is that synthetic stones bear consistent "sweeping" impressions left by singular directional polishing, and natural stones bear none.

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