Indian Diamond Jewelry

Q: I have a ring that was in my father's very unusual jewelry collection. It has a large center oval diamond about .75 carat (probably faux) and 8 very small diamonds around it. The ring is very large with engraving on the sides. On the inside it says, "It's a Micheal!", 20k and there is a serial number. Has anyone heard of this "brand" or have any idea where this ring is from? I have seen nothing on the internet or ebay.

A:Actually, that "logo" seems to me to be cast as part of the model, rather than individually stamped on the ring. That suggests it's a production piece, which then is also born out by the serial number. both the style of the mark, and the serial number, suggest a fairly recent manufactur, by someone marketing their work as "designer" jewelry. Might be someone fairly well known, or perhaps not. I don't happen to recognize the name, but perhaps someone with more retail exposure would. The stone sure looks to me like an old rose cut diamond. These were commonly in use in Victorian times and earlier, and many of these stones, those that are no longer in their original mountings, get re-used in modern work. Also, the increasing interest in "antique" styles, has led some indian diamond cutting firms to start cutting these again, so you can no longer be reasonably certain that what appears to be an old

rose cut is actually all that old. But the apparent somewhat beat up condition of that center stone at the facet edges, suggests that perhaps this stone isn't so new. But there's no real way to tell from the photo. Again, I can't be sure from the photos, but the side diamonds look rather like little natural uncut diamond crystals. This would be consistant with some current designer deciding to create a rustic or antique look using such parts, and conbined with the somewhat crude hand engraving on the sides of the ring, I'd guess that this is what you've got. I doubt that the ring is more than 20 years old, though of course I cannot be sure at all. Just my guess.