Is this gold diamond ring ruined? Updated after cleaning pics

[Breezie]

Is this gold diamond ring ruined? Updated 'after' cleaning pics

This past weekend, I found this gold diamond ring at the beach. It is marked 10K and the maker's mark is ZRW, which is Jewel America Inc.(I think.) It has 12 smaller diamonds in a circle, and 3 larger ones. It was about 8 inches deep buried in a shell wash at the ocean's edge at low tide. The prongs are strange looking in that they are rounded at the top. I don't know if this is from constant movement in the ocean or if they were made that way. I have soaked it in jewelry cleaner, soft & hard brushed it, but nothing I have done will clean the crud off of it. Is this ring ruined or is there a way to clean it? Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions. Breezie

April 8, 2010
The after pics are below, and NO, this diamond ring was not ruined.

 

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[Bramblefind]

Re: Is this gold diamond ring ruined?

Hi Breezie - I don't know if this will work but I think if I had that ring I would probably put some jewelry cleaner on it and wet down a Magic Eraser type thing and scrub.

The amazing Magic Eraser (or I use my local market generic version of it)

http://www.amazon.com/Mr-Clean-Eraser-Cleaning-8-Count/dp/B000FKGGTE

You are getting some nice beach finds!

 

[Breezie]

Re: Is this gold diamond ring ruined?

Hi Breezie - I don't know if this will work but I think if I had that ring I would probably put some jewelry cleaner on it and wet down a Magic Eraser type thing and scrub.

The amazing Magic Eraser (or I use my local market generic version of it)

http://www.amazon.com/Mr-Clean-Eraser-Cleaning-8-Count/dp/B000FKGGTE

You are getting some nice beach finds!

Thanks Bramble; I just soaked it for an hour in straight lemon juice, and that did absolutely nothing to it. The crud you see in the pic is not sand or loose dirt, but the corrosion of years of salt. I have some Magic Erasers, and will try those tomorrow. My fingers look like prunes from trying so many different cleaners . . lol . . What's your thoughts on the rounded prongs? Breezie

 

[Bramblefind]

Re: Is this gold diamond ring ruined?

I don't know very much about jewelry. Do the prongs look like this? I am not able to make them out enough to tell.

 

[Old Dog]

Re: Is this gold diamond ring ruined?

Breezie,
Don't invest a lot in magic erasers and jewelry cleaners.

Regular toothpaste and a soft toothbrush will work wonders.
If it is a gold ring with diamonds, there isn't much out there that can hurt it.

 

[Silver Searcher]

Re: Is this gold diamond ring ruined?



Try electrolysis Breezie, if that doesn't work nothing will I soaked the Celtic Gold coin in Lemon juice for two weeks (it was Purple in Colour) it never touched it sometimes we need something a bit better

SS

 

[Breezie]

Re: Is this gold diamond ring ruined?

Bramble, Yes, the prongs are rounded like the ones shown in your pic. Was that an older style setting?

Old Dog, thanks for the tip, and I'll be sure to use that on the jewelry I wear every day.

SS, I agree, I think the only thing that will clean this ring is electrolysis, which I'll set up today. How long did it take to clean your purple Celtic Gold? Can you post a before & after pic of it? I see it on your avatar, but would love to see a closer pic.

Thanks ya'll, Breezie

PS: I'm going to post a pic of my weekend finds (under Today's Finds) as soon as I get them sorted and semi-cleaned. I ended up with 5 quality rings.

 

[Silver Searcher]

Re: Is this gold diamond ring ruined?

Bramble, Yes, the prongs are rounded like the ones shown in your pic. Was that an older style setting?

Old Dog, thanks for the tip, and I'll be sure to use that on the jewelry I wear every day.

SS, I agree, I think the only thing that will clean this ring is electrolysis, which I'll set up today. How long did it take to clean your purple Celtic Gold? Can you post a before & after pic of it? I see it on your avatar, but would love to see a closer pic.

Thanks ya'll, Breezie

PS: I'm going to post a pic of my weekend finds (under Today's Finds) as soon as I get them sorted and semi-cleaned. I ended up with 5 quality rings.

Breezie...the one inthe Aviater is a William1 Penny(silver) this is the Stater

SS

 

[Breezie]

Re: Is this gold diamond ring ruined?

SS, that is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!! My goodness what a GREAT find!!! How long did it take to clean it with electrolysis?

Here's a better pic of the ring I just took without a flash. Breezie

 

[Silver Searcher]

Re: Is this gold diamond ring ruined?

SS, that is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!! My goodness what a GREAT find!!! How long did it take to clean it with electrolysis?

Here's a better pic of the ring I just took without a flash. Breezie

Breezie...I actually used a Toothpick to Clean it it took ages the Electrolysis would have done it in half the time the reason why I mentioned it, was that the lemon juice wouldn't touch it, and I never had a Electrolysis set up at the time, so I used the toothpick, softened

SS

 

[Silver Searcher]

Re: Is this gold diamond ring ruined?

SS, that is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!! My goodness what a GREAT find!!! How long did it take to clean it with electrolysis?

Here's a better pic of the ring I just took without a flash. Breezie

Breezie...I actually used a Toothpick to Clean it it took ages the Electrolysis would have done it in half the time the reason why I mentioned it, was that the lemon juice wouldn't touch it, and I never had a Electrolysis set up at the time, so I used the toothpick, softened

SS

Forgot...and some Toothpaste

SS

 

[Letsgethammered]

Re: Is this gold diamond ring ruined?

Toothpaste is abrasive , gold one of the softest metals known , for what its worth.Any abrasians wont hardly be visable to the eye , but they are under magnification which is what an expert will always use for valuations or sales.

 

[hammered]

Re: Is this gold diamond ring ruined?

Hi Breezie, as SS says electrolysis will work. The sceat I found yesterday had one minute then a soft brush then another minute and another soft brush. I didn't take any before pics so nothing to compare. Just do it in small amounts and keep an eye on it. Good luck .


hammered

 

[Woodland Detectors]

Re: Is this gold diamond ring ruined?

Hi Donna

I'm concerned about this one friend.
Gold should not tarnish like that. I'm baffled

 

[Breezie]

Re: Is this gold diamond ring ruined?

Hi Donna

I'm concerned about this one friend.
Gold should not tarnish like that. I'm baffled

Hey Neighbor, Are we going to win the National Championship tonight?? Mike, I took it to my jeweler today, and he confirmed it was 10K gold with real diamonds. He said parts of it had a layer of white gold over the yellow gold, but after he cleaned it, it would all be yellow gold. The crud we are seeing is the left over white gold layer that has rubbed off in areas by years of being in the ocean. He also said to buy the ring today would run about $350-$400, so I thought it was worth the $20.00 to have it cleaned by a pro. It should be ready by Thursday, so I'll post an 'after' pic. Breezie

 

[fieldboy se va]

Re: Is this gold diamond ring ruined?

Your ring looks alot like the old silver ring I found....mine was white and I found out it was coral starting to form. I was lucky my wife wanted it cleaned because it had a fire opel in it so off to my machine shop where I work. We have a tool maker who gave me some real fine buffing compound and a felt buffer for a dremmil tool that I used... that was the only thing I found that would move it. I hope this helps
Michael ....AKA fieldboy se va

 

[Woodland Detectors]

Re: Is this gold diamond ring ruined?

Hi Donna

I'm concerned about this one friend.
Gold should not tarnish like that. I'm baffled

Hey Neighbor, Are we going to win the National Championship tonight?? Mike, I took it to my jeweler today, and he confirmed it was 10K gold with real diamonds. He said parts of it had a layer of white gold over the yellow gold, but after he cleaned it, it would all be yellow gold. The crud we are seeing is the left over white gold layer that has rubbed off in areas by years of being in the ocean. He also said to buy the ring today would run about $350-$400, so I thought it was worth the $20.00 to have it cleaned by a pro. It should be ready by Thursday, so I'll post an 'after' pic. Breezie

Excellent!

We will see Donna. Tough game!

 

[BerntOut]

Re: Is this gold diamond ring ruined?

It's junk! Send it to me for proper disposal. LOL seriously, probably need to polish it with your dremel but only with those tiny cloth wheels and rouge!

 

[BioProfessor]

Re: Is this gold diamond ring ruined?

I agree with letting the pros do it. You may get more than $20 worth of cleaning as they usually keep at it until they get it done.

The thing to think about here is that you have a gold alloy that is less than half gold. Then you have a plating of white gold over yellow gold. Throw in some salt water and sand along with time and you have a recipe for some pretty nasty crud. Gold stands up really well to most everything but when the gold content is low (I think it can be as low as 38% gold and still be stamped 10Kt) things react with the metals used for the alloy.

I'm interested in what they can do with it. You might also talk to the person and ask just how hard it was - or wasn't - to clean.

Daryl

 

[Breezie]

Re: Is this gold diamond ring ruined?

BerntOut, LOL . . send me your address, and I'll mail the junk to ya! BTW, I already tried the Dremel using the cloth pads with jeweler's rouge, and it didn't move it.

Daryl, You're exactly right; it's amazing what what salt, sand, and surf will do to metal. Anyone who thinks gold and silver come out like they go in has not beach detected. The copper ring looked terrible too, but I was able to use the Dremel on it. The 925 silver ring was jet black. The gold aquamarine must have been a more recent loss because it was the best looking of the litter.

I'll post a pic as well as what the jeweler said about the cleaning. Actually, I'd like to know what chemical and/or process he uses, but he probably will not be interested in sharing any secrets. Breezie