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Vintage Ruby Rings
Shop our beautiful selection of vintage ruby rings including ruby engagement rings. All expertly appraised and delivered securely worldwide.
How can you tell a ruby ring is really vintage?
We are very experienced and qualified jewellers and gemmologists, and have spent many years appraising both modern, vintage and antique jewellery. When considering the age of a ruby ring, the first thing we check for is an possible hallmark. However, hallmarks were not a legal requirement until the mid 20th century, so vintage ruby rings are often without them. Similarly, jewellery made in continental Europe were not subject to the same hallmarking laws as the UK and ruby rings are bought and sold the world over. When there is no hallmark, we use our loupe to assess construction methods, materials, stone cuts, conditions of stones and style to form an expert opinion on the age of the piece. Our pledge at Kit Clayton is that we will never sell a modern reproduction item of jewellery as antique. It may still be considered vintage though, the definition of which is 20 years old +, but we will make very clear on all vintage ruby rings how old we believe them to be.
Are rubies more expensive than diamonds?
Very fine rubies - often referred to in the trade as 'pigeon blood' rubies from Burma - can fetch significant sums of money. Similar size and quality diamonds, however, are extremely valuable and can reach obscene amounts of money, with many red diamonds valued at 1 million dollars per carat! So while rubies are one of the more valuable gemstones, they are not quite as valuable as their diamond counterparts. That said, gemstone value is all related to size and quality, and a good quality ruby is certainly more valuable than a poor or average quality diamond.
Do ruby rings make good engagement rings?
Yes they do! And ruby rand diamond rings make for particularly popular engagement rings. While ruby is not as hard-wearing as diamond, it is effectively the second most hard-wearing gemstone alone with sapphire, and can survive day to day wear well. The usual caveat applies of course: take your vintage ruby ring off before any activity where it could get bashed.