Need Help Identifying Ring

[_Raz_]

Hi folks,

I have been reading this forum for a little while, but until now have not made a post. I thoroughly enjoy reading about everyones latest finds. Some of the items retrieved from beaches are absolutely amazing.

Anyway, a bit of background; A friend and I designed and built a couple of Pulse Induction detectors for use in the gold fields here in Australia. Since we live on a peninsula, surrounded by beaches, and the gold fields are a few hours drive from here, there were naturally many trips to the beaches to debug and test the detectors.

It was on one such trip (strangely, the first trip where I took my wife along ), that I uncovered the ring below, high up in the dry sand, at a depth of about 18 inches. It is a very pretty ring, with 5 small diamonds and the wife has become quite attached to it.

Since this forum is frequented by some very smart people, I thought perhaps someone might be able to help decipher the hallmarks on the ring, which are 'W.18.D' and 'PLAT.'

I have searched the Internet trying to make sense of the hallmarks, but only succeeded in confusing myself. I assume the PLAT. means the ring is platinum, but it has a definite gold colour and would not the 18 infer that it is 18k gold?

Any information would be greatly appreciated.Thanks in advance.

Regards, Mark

 

[Patrick(MI)]

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[Steve in PR]

You got me. I checked all my references and did not find anything. It is an exquisite piece and I suspect your suspicions are correct. Congrats!

 

[_Raz_]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for checking your references, much appreciated.

Further investigation (see link below) suggests that the 'D' in the hallmark may be a date mark. If correct, this would date the ring as 1939, but I could be completely wrong here (it would not be the first time ).

Perhaps I should just take the ring to a jeweler for an appraisal, but the local ones charge about A$50 and I'm not sure it would be worth it.

Regards, Mark

http://www.jewellerycatalogue.co.uk/gold_jewellery/assay_hallmark.php

 

[Bowtie41]

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[Sand Shagger (NMB)]

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[David from Suffolk]

Great find you got there RAZ

 

[Bottomfeeder]

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[_Raz_]

Thanks David,

I just wish I knew a bit more about hallmarks.

My original intention was to simply use the beach as a testing ground for our detector designs, but after the excitement of the ring find (and a few lesser rings as well) the temptation to seriously hunt the beaches is high.

The beach where the ring was found is actually fairly quiet, with only the locals really frequenting it, but there are many popular tourist beaches around here that could yield interesting finds come summer (its pretty cold down here at the moment).

Regards, Mark

 

[_Raz_]

Arh, that makes sense. So basically it could be an 18k gold ring with Platinum settings for the diamonds?

 

[Sanddigger]

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[SharkHunter]

It is gold colored with a white colored ring inlaid into it.Is there any sign of white metal? If so I would say 18Kgold with Platinum.

 

[KI8HU]

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[_Raz_]

Is there any sign of white metal? If so I would say 18Kgold with Platinum.

The 'prongs' that hold the diamonds in place look whitish when photographed. It is a bit hard to see the white with naked eyes, because the diamonds glint too much.

 

[_Raz_]

Yep, I was following a line of coins that were getting progressively deeper when I came across it. I am not sure how long the ring had been there, but it came out of the hole looking brand new.

 

[GraveDiggerMax-VaBch-Va]

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[treasureseeker99]

Hi Mark,

In answer to the hallmark. The maker is William Dunkling, the founder of Dunklings Jeweller in Melbourne (Australia). I believe that particular mark was used up until his death in 1926. If you can get to look at a copy of the book "Australian Jewellers - Gold and Silversmiths - Makers and Marks" you will see similar marks on page 85.

Nice looking ring by the way and yes the prongs are made of platinum.

Cheers from a fellow Aussie,

Alan V

 

[_Raz_]

Hi Alan,

Thank you very much for the information, it is much appreciated.

Living in Victoria, I have of-course heard of Dunklings, but I never imagined that the ring was made by the founder, William Dunkling. In hindsight, the W & D in the hallmark make a lot of sense now. It would appear that the ring is older than I thought.

The reference book you mention seems like it might be a handy thing to have around, especially so now that I have been bitten by the beach hunting bug.

Thanks again for the help, and thanks to all the others for their information and kind words.

Regards, Mark