Antique ring remodelling ideas

[Aurea]

Hello all!

I'm hoping for some Mumsnet wisdom and ideas for a vintage ring I have been given which used to belong to my GGM.

I think it's from 1920s. It consists of a round dark blue sapphire and 25 old cut diamonds of around 0.8ct in total. It also has pearls (one of which is cracked) which I don't like.

The band is massive, I can even get it easily on my thumb so it definitely needs resetting and remodelling.

I was going to use most of the diamonds in the setting, but I guess less is more sometimes.

Here is a photo of the vintage ring in its existing state (the photo is not of the ring on my own finger as I am a size J in case you think it fits, as it doesn't.)

Here is also photo of my existing rings I would wear on my other hand.

I would want the band to be platinum to match.

Anyway, please fire away with inspiration.

Thank you so much!

I'm watching this, I inherited a fabulous diamond ring in a really old fashioned setting and need some ideas too.

The pearls do nothing for that gorgeous ring either.

Have a look at this page Nina Bulley she is a craft jeweller local to me, so unlikely to be to you , but its gives you some great ideas of what can be done

how much do you want to retain any of it or the history?
if yes, then I would just get rid of the pearl sections and leave it as the one sapphire with the diamonds around it - as I quite like how it looks like a flower. i would ditch the pearls completely. depending on your style i would then just plain band it or use the rest of the diamonds just on the band.
if its not your style - why not do some googling of sapphire rings and get the jeweller to do a copy of something you like

I would be tempted to take the pearls and surrounding diamonds into earrings then the central stones remodelled as current design into platinum .

Thanks all!

I don't wear earrings unfortunately. I suppose I'd like to keep the sapphire and most of the diamonds, especially as they are sentimental.

What do you think of the idea below? Is it too modern?

Your sapphire is a different shape so I don't think it would look like that. Personally I'd keep the sapphire and diamonds as they are, get the band narrowed and resized and either keep it plain or create diamond shoulders either side of the flower, depending on preference.

I had my mums engagement ring remodelled into mine. Original was very Princess Di which is lovely but not my style.

If I were you I’d use the sapphire and diamonds as the ring and turn the pearls into something else, or not use them at all.

Tried to upload images but it’s not working 😏

Trying again.

If you can afford a total remodel I would go Art Deco design similar to the picture and maybe add a couple of other stones at the sides either diamonds or sapphires

This man is near me but takes work from all over. He’s just fab at his craft and he works with you rather than telling you what you want. www.rtfj.com (might be co.uk)

For £300 in duabi they took apart the stones from some rings we had from relatives and made them into 3 rings which were modern. I designed one, And showed pictures of designs I liked for another which they did a similar one but couldn’t do the same as the stone quality was too low and a third one was their design. I love them and love that our relatives rings can be enjoyed now

Thank you. I've looked through all the hundreds of photos on the RFTJ and saw this.

What do you think? My sapphire is round and smaller although my fingers are slim which compensates.

Love your ring Sex. What a gorgeous deep colour.

The guy who runs RTFJ is FAB - he repaired my very similar looking ring actually.

I don't like pearls much but I love the style of the ring just as it is, it's very much of it's time. I love old stuff though. All the other rings pictured are very meh compared to it imo.

I wouldn’t be able to mess with it, other than get it resized. It’s a piece of history!

Thanks Aurea, I love it!

I’d take your ring into a jeweller that specialises in this kind of thing. Mine was done by a fabulous family run place in Edinburgh.

No real ideas, I don't have much of an eye for jewellery design. I just came on to recommend a wonderful jeweller

www.selinacampbell.com/

She is based in Manchester and turned two wedding rings and an eternity ring into a gorgeous wedding band for my husband. Selina is based in Manchester and is a lovely woman.

Best of luck! It's an emotional experience seeing an heirloom turned into something brand new.

Thank you all. I have had a good look online at your suggestions.

I am really pleased I asked you lovely lot, as I was planning on going for a more modern style but on second thoughts (following your fab advice), I am minded to go for a similar style setting. The existing setting is too wide for my finger, so I could keep the vintage flower halo look and add some diamonds down the shoulders.

I live in the North of Scotland and have found a jeweller who remodels vintage rings so I will try them first for ideas.

Huge thanks!

Please come back and show us how it looks when you've had it remodelled.

Of course. May be a few weeks though.....

I think it's a beautiful ring and you would ruin it if you remodelled it into a modern looking ring. It is 100 years old, a piece of history! At the very most I would get it resized so you can wear it and if you really hate the pearls I would replace them with 2 smaller sapphires, keeping the original design. And I would get the pearls made into a second ring, set in gold.

Ok guys....a small update.

Unfortunately the sapphire is a synthetic sapphire which became very popular in the 1920s. The diamonds are real and there are 25 small ones totalling around 0.8ct.

I am going to meet with the designer next week, but she would like to know whether to include the sapphire or not in the design. If the sapphire was included, not all the diamonds world be used (due to size of my finger). Therefore, should I forfeit the synthetic sapphire to use all or more of the diamonds or keep the sapphire and have some diamonds left over?

Any ideas for simply diamond cluster rings would be very welcome.

Many thanks