Masonic ring

[mrcolin2u]

Found this old Masonic ring in salt water , it looks old and worn and there’s no hallmarks or stamps whatsoever.

 

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[pepperj]

Found this old Masonic ring in salt water , it looks old and worn and there’s no hallmarks or stamps whatsoever.

Congratulations on the ring. It certainly has seen many years of wear.

 

[jewelerguy]

whoever lost it was probably upset about the loss because they wore that for a very long time

 

[E-Trac-Ohio]

What a great find - congrats !

 

[Jose The Goon]

Yes, a great find. Congrats. Here's something to chew on.
Could be that from long-term wear, the maker's marks & karat stamps were rubbed away. Or, it was made pre-1900 when karat stamps were not required. I notice that around the masonic symbol, that the gold shows a dark brown color. Did you polish the ring & were not able to reach those spots? The reason I ask this is because a gold ring, if not 24k (pure gold), will tarnish to that dark brown color to varying degrees if in the salt water a LONG
time. It's the alloys (brass,, silver, copper, for example) that lead to the tarnishing on un-pure gold. My guess is that your ring is very old.
Nonetheless, nice hefty hunk, & a great find.

 

[mrcolin2u]

Yes, a great find. Congrats. Here's something to chew on.
Could be that from long-term wear, the maker's marks & karat stamps were rubbed away. Or, it was made pre-1900 when karat stamps were not required. I notice that around the masonic symbol, that the gold shows a dark brown color. Did you polish the ring & were not able to reach those spots? The reason I ask this is because a gold ring, if not 24k (pure gold), will tarnish to that dark brown color to varying degrees if in the salt water a LONG
time. It's the alloys (brass,, silver, copper, for example) that lead to the tarnishing on un-pure gold. My guess is that your ring is very old.
Nonetheless, nice hefty hunk, & a great find.

Yes Jose I cleaned the ring around the raised masonic logo and the opposite side where the ring may have been brazed or perhaps some type of solder ? I believe it is gold and the dark areas are maybe the silver content that has leached out over the years from whatever method they used to construct this ring .
I think it has been in the water a very long time .
I also found a ladies wedding ring set with diamonds which was an old fashioned design and it too had a very small area where non gold metal had leached out and stained a dark color . This particular ring was stamped 14K .
The masonic ring was only stained at the logo and the "seam" at the bottom of the ring , otherwise it came of the water all clean and shiny.
I found the ring in the carribean sea off a hotel beach which may not have existed when the ring was originally lost .

 

[Jose The Goon]

It's nice to hear that you found it in the waters of the "Carib". Great place to hang out & look for old stuff in the water. It kind of looks like it might have been hand made by someone who wasn't a professional jeweler. The masonic symbol itself is not a perfect work of art & maybe that's why there is no maker's mark or karat stamp.(Just a speculation). But, as we know, The Masons go way back so there's no telling how old it is. Would be interesting to know how it checks out karat wise after being tested.
Oh how I wish I could get back to "The Carib" to snorkel around and look for stuff. Those were my favorite times.
Get back there as much as possible & enjoy yourself if you can. Great find. I hope it checks out to be 18K or higher.
Thanks for sharing. J.T.G.