When you are going through old things such as family heirlooms and other items, you may be lucky enough to find you have something really special on your hands. Often, people pass down items from generation to generation. One of the more common things that you may find in a collection are rings. These can range from something fun like costume jewellery all the way to a classic ring with lasting value. So, how do you tell if the ring you have is vintage? What makes it different from antique jewellery? Well, we are here to help.
When Is Something Considered Antique?
Generally, for an item to be considered antique, it has to be about a hundred years or older. So currently a good way to judge is that anything made during or before the 1920’s would be an antique piece. Don’t worry however, there are still plenty of valuable and amazing rings that were made after that – this fact just qualifies something as an antique. Many rings have a marking on the band with the date, especially wedding, engagement and even promise rings. This will make it easy to determine the age. However, if the ring is unmarked, there are several ways to roughly judge its age. You can compare the ring to others from different eras to get an idea of when it might have been made, but many styles tend to surface through different time periods making it difficult to be certain.
What Makes A Ring Vintage?
Typically, in order to be considered vintage, a ring must be at least 20 years old but no more than 100 years old. However, the term vintage is thrown around a lot and can often mean the ring is vintage style, mimicking the craftsmanship of an older era. These rings are more common to find than those that are actually vintage but can still hold value depending on a number of factors. Looking up some pictures online of rings similar to yours is a good way to start identifying when your ring was made. You can check out the beautiful vintage diamond engagement rings at Kalmar Antiques to see the various styles available. Also, you can always ask your family members as they might remember when the ring was acquired or purchased.
Reach Out On Social Media
Another way to figure out when your ring was made is to put up a post asking about vintage engagement rings Sydney collectors look for. The online community can be extraordinarily helpful in your quest to date back your special ring. You may find that many people have similar rings, or even that yours is one of a kind – the community can help point you in the right direction.
Get An Appraisal
Last but not least, it is never a bad idea to seek out a professional antique or vintage dealer to give you a realistic assessment of when your ring was made and how much it is worth. Be careful to do your research and seek out a respected seller so the ring doesn’t get undervalued by a dodgy dealer. The last thing you want is to find out you sold an antique of extraordinary value to a shop that didn’t have your best interests in mind. It’s always a good idea to get several opinions from different dealers just to make sure you aren’t being taken advantage of by anyone. Now get out there and learn more about your precious ring!
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