Who made my ring?

December 29, 2021 8:04 AM

A long time ago (at least 15 years now) I bought this ring at Barneys, at the New York 5th Avenue store. It was part of an artist's collection of stacking rings of different sizes, with and without small gems. They were coated with some sort of treatment that would wear off over time, revealing the gold underneath. Can anyone help me track down the artist?

As you can see, my ring is now completely goldtone. But when I bought it, it was a matte pink, almost like clay (they may even have been coated with actual fired clay). The other colors available were variations on black and ivory, if I recall correctly. There may also have been variations in platinum or white gold underneath. I'm hoping to have mine re-coated, if that's possible, assuming that's something she even does anymore.

I'm fairly certain the artist is a woman. There are markings inside the ring, but they are completely worn down and unreadable beyond what's photographed here. In that orientation, it looks almost like Hebrew to me, but I don't remember it being an Israeli artist, and I may be using my own assumptions and holding it upside-down?

So not a lot to go on. But I've seen this place work miracles before... any ideas?

posted by Mchelly to Shopping (2 answers total)

Maybe a dumb question, but have you taken it to a jeweler? My wedding band is from the 70s and when I took it to my local jeweler to get resized, he told me alllllll about it, the year it was made, the collection it was part of, the artist who designed it. Those old school places are really knowledgeable about this stuff. Worth a try?
posted by cakelite at 8:13 AM on December 29, 2021

This may or may not be helpful at all, but it looks a lot like Alicia Hannah Naomi's work. No clue if she's done some sort of clay treatment thing like that, nor do I know how long she's been making jewelry, but it's a similar style, if nothing else.
posted by so fucking future at 8:25 AM on December 29, 2021