Long lost ring

September 23, 2012 12:56 PM

Trying to find a long lost ring for my SO, but I've never seen it. Please help!

The ring was a gift from her grandmother, but was lost during college. I would love to surprise her with a replacement. The most obvious route would be to ask the grandmother where she bought it; caveat, the grandmother doesn't know it was lost. I've tried some Google searches but without knowing the type of stone I'm coming up short. Maybe some jewelry savvy MeFi's can help. I'll provide the description that she gave me. She said the ring is expensive, from previous conversations I would imagine around $100, but maybe more. It was a gold ring with purple stones, 3 or 4. Between each purple stone there were 2 smaller diamonds, so about 6 in total. The ring doesn't need to be an exact replica (obviously impossible) but I do think it would be a nice surprise. Thanks so much if you can help!!

posted by Stan Grossman to clothing, beauty, & fashion (6 answers total)

Is $100 a typo? At market prices today, I doubt you could get even a simple gold band for $100.

Something like this (which is in white gold)? Purple stones are generally amethysts, but could be lots of things. Is GF's birthday in February? Amethysts are the February birthstone.

That said, Ask has a lot of these questions about replacing some loved one's long-lost XYZ, and I always think it's a bad idea. As you say, you'll never replace the missing item exactly. There's some emotional stuff going on here--expensive family gift, and Grandma hasn't been told even though the ring was lost long ago. Have you considered whether the new ring would just be a reminder that she lost the old ring? If it were me, I'd just get her something else.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 1:11 PM on September 23, 2012 [1 favorite]

Are you really stuck on the surprise part? Because the best way to do this would be to take her to a jeweler and have her describe/sketch the ring, choose stones, etc, and have it made. (Assuming she really liked the way it looked and would want a similar ring, rather than just being attached to it for sentimental reasons.) You'd probably make up in appreciation and enjoyment of ring what you'd lose in surprise.

(And knowing whether that was meant to be $1,000 or $10,000 or something else might help with identification of the purple stone...)
posted by DestinationUnknown at 1:24 PM on September 23, 2012

You might also try using etsy to find something similar, even if you're unlikely to find something identical. Searching for amethyst ring in the "vintage" category brings up lots of options, and you might also look in handmade, depending on what her style is like. Since you know you're unlikely to get an exact replica, you can think more about getting her something that suits her style now, as a reminder of the past ring, but not a duplicate of it.
posted by dizziest at 1:27 PM on September 23, 2012

Are there are any photographs of her wearing it? Maybe contact some of her friends from college to see if they have any photos of the ring?
posted by missmagenta at 3:01 PM on September 23, 2012

From eBay, several very different rings in yellow gold that all match your description and target budget: one, two, three. Don't forget you need to know her ring size as well.
posted by carmicha at 3:20 PM on September 23, 2012

$100 would have been about right for a smallish amethyst and gold ring with diamond accents 15-20 years ago. Today, it would be more like $300 - $400 new.

As for her ring size, you can get it sized if it's gold, not so much if it's vermeil (gold-plated silver) like the first ring carmicha links above. Generally, it's best not to size up more than a size and a half or to size down more than two sizes.
posted by Sidhedevil at 3:37 PM on September 23, 2012