Absolutely correct Trinity. Platinum is not gold colored. It is silver colored with a grey caste. Plated Platinum? Why would anyone want to plate platinum?
Although PLAT was discovered in the 16th century it was used very little until the LATE 1800's and the date on this ring appears to be 1801 unless this isn't the date of the ring but the date of an important occasion, or birth of a family ancestor or registration number, patent number or other number mark.
It could also be a replacement ring.
Lots of puzzles with this ring. Unfortunately, I cannot see the ring clearly and the style of the ring to place in the appropriate period of history, or the diamonds to determine if they are antique diamond cuts or not, but yes, I agree, the METAL does appear to look gold colored. Can you upload a another photo in a follow-up submission.
In the meantime, let's see if we can determine if it is gold plated..
Examine the metal very closely with a jewelers loupe or magnifying glass.
Pay particular attention to the area around the setting, look carefully at the places which get the most wear. Examine inside the ring behind the stones and the inside of the back of the band. Are there any traces of metal that are a silver color or a different color shade or texture to the gold color?
From this info you provide, we can go from there..
regards Yvonne
Feb 19, 2010 Rating
Platinum by: Trinity
Is platinum ever gold colored? My ring is gold-colored so I didn't think that it was platinum.
Jan 31, 2010 Rating
Inherited PLATinum Ring by: Anonymous
Hi Trinity thank you for writing in. PLAT stands for platinum which is more expensive than gold. It has a silver appearance with a slight greyish caste. A combination of 90% platinum and 10% iridium is often used in jewelry.
Platinum has only been used in jewelry making since the early 1900s and became very popular in the 1930s. In 1915 "white gold" was introduced as a perfect but less expensive platinum imitation. I'm not sure about the numbers you described.
