The Ruby

There is a ring that's been in my family for awhile; it's a ruby solitaire set in gold. Before February 25, 2010, I had worn it once on my wedding day as something old. I then gave it right back to my mother for safe keeping in her bottom drawer where she kept other random things of value. You see, the oldest daughter of the oldest daughter is to have it whenever the previous mother says so. I think my mom got it from her mother when she was 40. But I am not sure.

Unfortunately, for me, I got the ring by last will & testament. It was passed to me when my mother passed just 2 months ago.  It's an event still so unbelievably horrible,  that I can't even go a day without tears at least once if not 8 or 9 times. That ring I knew had a story, but I wasn't sure about it. I had never asked, actually. I knew that it was my great grandmother's before it was my grandmother's, and that is all I knew.

I took the ring with me to the jeweler when I had my mom's anniversary band sized. (My dad had given the band to me, so all of us has some piece of mom's jewelry specifically). The jeweler wasn't sure if the ruby was real or man-made, and told me I needed to have a gemologist look at it.  I wasn't sure I wanted to wear it or just to leave it alone and put it in a safe place. It's a very small size and needs a prong repaired; it probably needs to be re-set all together. After he told me it might be a man-made stone, I was disappointed to say the least. In my great grandmother's own handwriting on the very old box it came in, it even says "A genuine stone, for a genuine daughter."

So, on one of the many car rides I've had with my grandma lately, I asked her about the ruby. She explained that it had been given to my great grandmother, Sara Frances, by a suitor when she was about 16. That was around 1919. So this ruby ring is about 90 years old, at least. I am not sure who the suitor was, but it wasn't my great grandfather, an interesting twist to the story.

However, that's all my grandma knew, so I am still not sure of its exact origin. There is a' T ' and a 10kt marking, and that's all I can find on the inside of the band. The research I've found on rubies doesn't help either, as it is not clear the exact time synthetic ruby stones began being sold. I wish I knew of someone with the expertise to help learn more about its past, so I can pass on more of the story with the ring when the time comes for my girl to have it.

And while I cannot quite explain how finding that you have something almost a century old is incredibly enchanting, intriguing, and valuable in many ways, I'd much rather not have this story to tell yet. I'd rather my mama still have it safe in her bottom drawer.



*Mrs. Sinclair*