Retro Mixed Metal Diamond and Palladium Ring

No. 107

STORY: 

Paladium has only recently earned its credentials as a precious metal, but it took centre stage in jewellery design during WW2 when it served as a replacement for platinum, which was declared a strategic metal and reserved solely for military use. 

DESCRIPTION: 

This ring's design is a beautiful example of when contrast works just right! The mixed metals of gold and paladium work perfectly in balance with its delicate but bold structure. The ring is set with an 8-cut diamond to the centre and a smaller rose cut diamond to each of it's shoulders. 

The design of the ring is reflective of the machine age with long clean lines.  The diamonds have been set and cut in such way to provide a maximum amount of sparkle. The deep gunmetal colour of the paladium illusion setting accentuates the diamonds and helps them appear larger than they are. 

HOW TO WEAR: 

The ring's metal work is delicate especially along the sides and the under gallery. So it is best this ring be worn alone rather than stacked as wear rubbing to the gold would be inevitable. It is also recommended the ring be removed when undertaking physical activity which may damage the metal - cleaning / working out / moving heavy items. As with all gold/diamond jewellery it is also recommended the ring be kept away from chemicals such as chlorine, cosmetics etc. 

Condition: 

Condition in very good. A new 14ct gold shank has been added from the bottom of the shoulders by a professional goldsmith from the famous Hatton Garden jewellery district in London, England. The head and shoulders of the ring are all original set into 10ct gold and paladium. Due to the reinforcement and rebuild of the ring shank the original stamps are no longer there. I have included a photo of the original ring's stamps in the very last photo. There you can see the "10k" - American stamp for 10 ct gold and remnants of the Paladium stamp. 

Era: Retro - 1940s

Measurements: 

Size: 54.5 EU/DK 

Head of the ring measures 10.6mm wide x 4.6mm length. 

The ring sits 3mm above your finger 

The central diamond measures approx 1.8mm

The side diamonds measure approx 1.2mm

The shank measures 3mm wide at the top of the shoulders and tapers down to 1.3mm at the base. The shank measures 0.7mm thick. 

Hallmarks:  The new ring shank is stamped 14ct. The original shank was stamped "10k" + "Paladium" for palladium. These were however lost when the shank was replaced. 

Provenance: USA