To think this ring has been changed

[Ondonotdisturb]

Long story short.. I was left a sapphire and diamond ring, I think the diamonds are original but family have a feeling a certain family member has swapped out the sapphire. I’ve cleaned it as best as I can and am able to shine a light from underneath which makes the gem shine green/blueish and appear murky. From above with no light the gem is very dark/almost black
wondering if anyone on here would be able to identify if this is fake or the original? There seems to have been some lighter blue stripes appear where I’ve maybe scraped the dirt from underneath (in first image) a little harder?

On the hallmark I can make out a crown followed by 750 then the date letter and assay office. I can't see that those last two are though. Date letters can be really difficult to make out - I've looked at a few on inherited rings with my loupe and some years can be really similar.

It's a similar style to Diana's engagement ring so eighties would make sense.

From what I can see it’s a ship, 750, O R
tried to find the ship online but I can’t see it anywhere so maybe it is a crown

It’s beautiful op, feel a bit bad for this family member! Have they got form for swapping stones/fiddling?

It's dead easy! First you need to register with these people.
https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb

This shows all or most of the auction houses in the UK
I stick with one that is not so far from me because I don't want to get involved in having goods shipped or posted to me, I can drive and pick up anything I have bought. Also I have sold quite a lot with them (not jewellery) so I can take stuff in for valuation.

Most bidding is done online now. My auction house ships all over the world (it's even been on bargain Hunt!) but when I turned up to a live auction it was just about 10 people there. However they are hugely successful so it is all online. Their jewellery auctions are second to none

Thank you!

Sorry @Ondonotdisturb I don't want to detail your thread.
Your ring is beautiful, do get it valued!

Hallmark Date Letters - A Full UK Guide | BullionByPost

I can't make out the images clearly enough, but you can check there.

Mostly likely to have been assayed at Birmingham, London, Sheffield or Edinburgh, and not necessarily the nearest office to where the ring was sold.
Will keep squinting and trying to see if I can make it out. The office emblem and year letter R should be easy enough to work out with your clearer view by eye rather than the image on screen.

Edit, could it be the Castle?

Rings from the same maker have a leopard mark.

The 'picture' will be where its hallmarked and where the jeweller keeps his sponsor mark - it doesnt necessarily have to be where they are based - for example I am in the SE but send my stuff to Edinburgh.

The UK offices and marks
London - lion
birmingham - anchor
sheffield - rose
edinburgh - castle

the letters and shape that they are in will determine the maker

There are only four assay offices:

• Birmingham - represented by an anchor
• London - represented by a leopard
• Sheffield - represented by a Tudor rose
• Edinburgh - represented by a castle

The hallmark on your ring will show one of these stamps as they are compulsory hallmarks.

London is represented by a leopard, not a lion.

They have got form for stealing and pawning other jewellery, this was the only piece of jewellery left after my nan passed

I think it’s most likely the anchor then but maybe sideways? I’m not too sure, can’t see it with the naked eye as it’s so tiny, the photo shows it clearer

Seconding this. I have an antique engagement ring similar in setting to yours but with an emerald rather than a sapphire. Made the mistake of forgetting to remove it when making cloud dough with DS (cornflour and conditioner - sticks like shit). It ended up filthy and I’ve not had chance to give it a good scrub with fairy liquid yet. The emerald looks completely different now, cloudy and darker. You may find your ring looks exactly the same as it originally did after a clean.

The crown and the 750 are the purity marks. That in itself apparently dates it between 1975 and 1998.

the next two should be assay office and then date letter and I can't make those out.

The anchor is often sideways.

The one you think is an anchor is to the left of the 750. Those two together should be the Metal Fineness marks. As your ring is gold, there should be a crown along with the 750, so I think this is a crown, albeit somewhat worn. To the right of that are the Assay Office mark and the Date mark. Neither of those are very clear. You might want to take a look at https://www.assayofficelondon.co.uk/hallmarking/what-is-a-hallmark#convention

Oh thank you, this makes more sense. Seems to be a round shape so maybe it’s the London mark

Honestly, I think it is really unlikely that an addict is going to faff around sourcing a fake stone that fits the ring exactly, and getting it re set.

ive name changed for this as it’s an outing story for those that know me as I bore people with it.

I was given a ring. A very precious ring by an elderly family member, they were incredibly proud of this ring, it had been given to them by another relative so was very old. This family member had been married to someone in the jewellery business.
i knew some stones had been replaced, some were original diamonds, some were replacements put in for me.

when they died I decided to use their inheritance to get it cleaned and replaced with diamonds to original standard.
none of them were diamonds.
they never had been.
for years no one had told this relative, everyone had kept the story so as not to upset them about this ring and the original giver. Their husband, the jeweller who replaced the stones. Anyone who had seen the ring with any knowledge.

Be careful to jump to conclusions about it!

That’s a lovely stone - but the colour looks more like a London Blue topaz than a sapphire. London Blue topaz are more of a “denim” blue.

Ahh if they are inside the stone they could be inclusions. Some stones have holes inside which often look like lines, they fill them with lead glass but these usuall look like intersecting lines.

That's beautiful!!!

I have a sapphire and diamond ring, that's the colour of mine if I shine a light through it. But if I'm wearing it, the sapphire does looks black.

The best thing for cleaning stones is gin. Use a soft toothbrush and they'll come up very sparkly.