Opal/Gold ring... clueless as to age!

by Steph
(London)

I'd love to know how old this ring is, but apart from describing it to you, the only other clue is that it belonged to my Great Grandmother. My Grandma is 77 now, and I get the impression from her that the ring was around before she was born (but she has dementia - so I'm not sure!)

The style is a solitaire, with a smooth oval-shaped white opal in the center. The stone is held by 12 gold prongs (it looks like its sitting in a crown). The band is gold, D-shaped at the back thinning to an elongated D-shape as it nears the stone. From a view where the ring lies flat on a surface, you can see the band splits into 2, either side of the stone, before it attaches to the 'crown' setting.

It's 16mm in diameter, from inside edge to inside edge, and the band is about 1.5mm wide at it's widest point (from all angles).

The gold and the opal are extremely worn, showing many small scratches when inspected. The opal has a few fine cracks running the length of it, only noticeable by the way the light diffracts through the stone. the only hallmark of any kind present is a simple "18CT" on the inside of the band, at the back.

I wonder if you have any idea when it was made?

Sorry i've included useless info in the lengthy description... I wasn't sure whats needed!