At the upcoming Fine Jewels auction, at Sotheby’s London, a very special diamond ring will go on sale. Dating back to the 19th century, and purchased for £11,00 at a flea market, an antique diamond ring will hit the block for a staggering pre-sale estimate of £250-350,000.
This is the amazing story of how a ring, simply considered costume jewellery, was bought at a car boot sale for £10, in the 1980s, and turned out to be a very valuable jewel, set with a unique and important diamond.
The owner has been enjoyed it for all these years, wearing it every day, on every possible occasion, and she decided only in the past few months to see if this ring had any value, turning to Sotheby’s for an appraisal.
Easy to imagine her surprise when she received confirmation that her “fake” ring was, in reality, a genuine cushion-shaped diamond of 26.27 carats with an attractive colour grade of I and an impressive clarity grade of VVS2.
The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) confirmed the diamond’s characteristics and its uniqueness.
With an impressive pre-sale estimate of £250-350,000, Sotheby’s believes it could sell in that range.
A curiosity: the owner thought her stone was a fake because it didn’t sparkle like a modern diamond.
“With an old style of cutting… the light doesn’t reflect back as much as it would from a modern stone cutting,” Jessica Wyndham, head of Sotheby’s London jewellery department said. “Cutters worked more with the natural shape of the crystal, to conserve as much weight rather than make it as brilliant as possible.”
This sale could be a life-changing event for the owner. A truly amazing find. CC
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