QUESTION FROM TIM IN ABERDEEN, UK:
Question :
A family member owns some rings, I believe they are quite old and of Eastern European or Russian origin. The stones are poor, or even glass, but the Rings are Gold and quite substantial. Why would so much Gold be used on Costume Jewellery?
ANSWER FOR TIM:
Hi Tim.
This I can't tell you. People do odd things. But I can tell you this. In the past lots of people have fallen under hard times, like during the depression and such. Sometimes people have had to swap out those lovely Gemstones and Diamonds and put in synthetic ones so they can sell them and get by. I'm sure they were thinking that when the economy picks up, they would be replaced. But that rarely happened. I've seen it before.
Or maybe the stones broke and they couldn't afford to replace them? Maybe they only had enough to buy the Gold and not the stones? There's too many scenarios here that could have happened. They could have been sold the Rings and told that they were genuine? They could have taken the Rings in to get them sized and a Jeweler switched them out? You will probably never know. I've seen a lot of Antique Rings come through the store and you'd be surprised at how many of them had Created or Synthetic Stones in them. It seems like the past will always remain a mystery!
P.S. I'd love to see a picture of these Rings, I'm sure they look very ornate and detailed!
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