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Wedding rings 'Gold'

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  • Wedding rings 'Gold'

    As i cant find a suitable forum section for this i hope you will move it if required.

    My Mum has a collection of wedding rings all Gold from my Gran, 2 x Great Gran she married twice, and Great Great Gran.

    The price of these in each generation must have been high GGG was married in the 1800's .

    Does anyone else have such a collection?. and what price would you quess Gold was worth in the 1860's ?, assuming they are all 9 Carat.


    Peter

  • #2
    Oh Peter you want OC tosee this she is the one that up on gold etc ;;
    borobabs passed away March 2018

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    • #3
      Your mum is so lucky to have something so personnal from her family xx

      Researching/ MADGWICK, RAMUS, PONT, MITCHELL, CHAMPION, GOSSLING, VAN STAADEN.

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      • #4
        Up date i have just had a look at them under a spy glass.

        Grans is 18 Carat
        GG is 22 Carat
        GGG is also 22 Carat

        22Carat is i believe the best you can get .

        Peter

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        • #5
          Yes the highter the number the purier the content of gold also softer though
          borobabs passed away March 2018

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          • #6
            Peter

            when you say they "say 22 ct" do you literally mean that, or have you found a hallmark?

            Gold was neither cheap nor dear in Victorian times and wedding rings were being mass produced. More or less anyone could afford a wedding ring...and there was a very brisk trade in secondhand ones.

            24 carat is the best you can get - that's pure gold, but that has never been popular in this country because it is so soft and wears away literally to nothing.

            The "norm" for wedding rings in England was 9ct gold. Anything with a higher carat was normally foreign, imported, but not always of course.

            My grandmother had her mother's wedding ring, which was 18 carat. By the time gran died, the ring was so worn and thin she could squeeze it into different shapes on her finger!

            There is a small specialist market in Victorian wedding rings in good condition but of course, you wouldn't want to sell them. (If you do, give me first refusal, lol!)

            OC

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            • #7
              At the moment I have my ex's maternal grandmother's wedding ring. it is very thick and looks like a curtain ring and weighs a ton. I've never been able to wear it as it is uncomfortable between my fingers, apart from the fact it is just too stodgy.

              It was valued for insurance purposes at £100 a few years ago.
              ~ with love from Little Nell~
              Chowns, Dunt, Emms, Mealing, Purvey & Smoothy

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              • #8
                I have 2 18ct gold engagement rings - OH's mother's and his grandmother's. One has 3 diamonds in and the other one large diamond and 2 rubies. I know the oldest one is over 100 yrs old. I wonder if they are of any value too.
                Stella passed away December 2014

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                • #9
                  The value is not important its the sentimental and historical value i think is more .

                  They are hallmarked as 18/22 Carat on them.

                  The early ones are not that wide but Grans is double the width of the others and that would have been 1928.


                  Peter

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                  • #10
                    OK, google tells me that the price of gold in 1860 was 21 dollars per ounce.

                    A typical Victorian wedding ring would weigh between two and eight grams.

                    In 18 carat gold I would therefore have expected the retail price for a new wedding ring to be about the equivalent of 10-15 dollars. (There is traditionally a 1000% mark up on new gold items at point of sale).

                    Now all we need to do is find out how many dollars to the pound there were in 1860!!!

                    OC

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                    • #11
                      This indicates an average of around 4.5 to 5 dollars per pound, so I guess we're looking at something like £3-£4 for an 18ct wedding ring - how does that fit in with family budgets and general pricing at the time - OC?

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                      • #12
                        All you ever wanted to know about historic dollar exchange rates!

                        Kate

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                        • #13
                          Right a bit more digging suggests average per head income of around £45 per year, and skilled wages at around £60 per year. So a pair of rings certainly seems like an affordable thing for a couple.

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                          • #14
                            Thank you for that information Kate . all helps to fill in the thougths that go through your mind .


                            Peter

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                            • #15
                              What a wonderful collection to have Peter. I would say they are priceless to you and your mum. :D
                              Rose

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                              • #16
                                Kate

                                Thanks for the maths work, lol, I've been out all day and couldn't follow it up!

                                just a small point - very rare for Victorian men to wear wedding rings. By that I mean I have never heard of matching Victorian rings for men and women. Not to say they didn't exist, just that they would have been an exception to the rule.

                                Black Widow

                                Very yellow gold is normally a sign of imported gold from Middle/Far Eastern countries. (UK tastes and skin colour don't suit bright yellow gold, so it is not popular here and never has been).

                                I read somewhere that men who travelled to these countries on business, or in the services, often bought gold rings and brought them back here to sell either to mates or to Jewellers/dealers, who would have them hallmarked over here.

                                These bright yellow gold rings, marked 22ct are often actually pure gold, but England does not have a hallmark for pure gold, so they are stamped 22ct and sold in the trade as "high carat".

                                Same goes for other bright yellow gold jewellery - if marked 22ct, probably pure gold! Many people in the know buy Jewellery when holidaying in the Eastern countries because gold is cheaper than it is in UK and sell it for scrap when they get back - a nice little investment!

                                OC

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                                • #17
                                  I have my grandmother's wedding ring which I wear all the time. It is 22 ct gold and a lovely pinky rose gold colour, chunky and quite heavy. She was married in 1923, but I can't read the date letter on the hallmark to see if it was new then.

                                  How lucky you are to have such a lovely collection Peter.
                                  My avatar is my Great Grandmother Emma Gumbert

                                  Sue at Langley Vale

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                                  • #18


                                    Sorry for the fuzzy photo .
                                    Top to bottom Grans, GGrans, and bottom two GGGrans.

                                    The other space will be used for Mums ring eventually .


                                    Peter

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                                    • #19
                                      Peter

                                      Is that a Raymond Weil watch in the photo?

                                      OC

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                                      • #20
                                        Hi
                                        I have now gone green with envey lucky you. And what a beautiful watch and a good box to keep them all in




                                        Laura

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