14K Ring and 5+ carats of cubic zirconia dissapointment! 3+ Nitro needed to view!

DocBeav · Sep 21, 2015

Hit the beach at low tide today and the tgts were pretty scarce, I ran into a couple other hunters and was getting the thumbs down from everyone. I was about to turn around when I decided to move up a little higher and see how the beach looked further on and right as I got near the high tide line a nice solid 12.09 comes up on the CTX. The way things had been going I figured it for a really good piece of aluminum or something like that, big surprise was waiting only one scoop deep! Of course I was struck by the sheer size of this iceberg but, skeptical/hopeful at the same time. I saw it was marked 14K and thought, ok MAYBE there is a chance........a trip by the local jewelers store put the matter to rest, a 5 carat cubic zirconia and all the baguettes on the sides (prob another 1-2 carats) were CZ's as well. Though I was holding that new bathroom the wife wants right there in my hand! At least the gold is real, 6.1 grams total weight, no idea how much of that is fake ice but it's gotta be at least a gram. Emma was also happy with her new "beach seasoned" tennis ball I picked up along the way.

Just to torture myself a little bit more, I looked up diamond prices just on 5 carat stones of this same cut and it would have been anywhere from $12,000 for a crummy one and $147,000 for a perfect one! Ahhh......****, maybe next time eh?

digging440yrs · Sep 21, 2015

Still a real beauty :occasion14:

pl8man · Sep 21, 2015

Holly smokes !!! I would have just fell over and died if I dug that ! Sweet find , next time it will be real !
Glen

treblehunter · Sep 21, 2015

At least the dog is happy, nice gold!

Rustynailsandscrews · Sep 21, 2015

That happens a lot. CZ'S set in good Gold settings. I'm a part time jeweler and many women like CZ because it is very flashy and very rainbow like in reflecting light. Typically females that like big flashy rocks will request CZ. The difference between price point of a high quality diamond and CZ are huge. My wife herself likes her 3 carat Diamond. It's still a nice find and don't scrap it because it is not junk jewelry. Don't listen to the Jeweler and find out the ring size and sell it privately. You will get more for it that way. Have you trained your dog to dig your holes for you ? I'm working on training mine!

qaela4 · Sep 21, 2015

Yep, she's a beauty all right, too bad about the stones.

Brother Al · Sep 21, 2015

Those are the finds that bring the cliche " love/hate "
relationship to mind.
I like "WhatIFind's " reaction to finding stuff like that.
Turn away, savor the moment, and then check it out?

Randyg12 · Sep 21, 2015

I bet that brought a big grin when you saw it :laughing7:

still a great find! :thumbsup:

CASPER-2 · Sep 21, 2015

The Urban Prospector · Sep 21, 2015

Wow Doc, that thing is awesome! I can just imagine how it felt seeing the 14k hallmark and thinking those had to be diamonds. Dang! Well it is still a beauty and it is GOLD!!! Congrats!
TFS and HH

Tnmountains · Sep 21, 2015

Rustynailsandscrews said:
That happens a lot. CZ'S set in good Gold settings. I'm a part time jeweler and many women like CZ because it is very flashy and very rainbow like in reflecting light. Typically females that like big flashy rocks will request CZ. The difference between price point of a high quality diamond and CZ are huge. My wife herself likes her 3 carat Diamond. It's still a nice find and don't scrap it because it is not junk jewelry. Don't listen to the Jeweler and find out the ring size and sell it privately. You will get more for it that way. Have you trained your dog to dig your holes for you ? I'm working on training mine!

Now that is good advice. I would not go the scrap route either. Might get more if you do decide to sell. Nice hunt!

bigfoot1 · Sep 21, 2015

man...I feel ya..pulled a nice 14k 3ct cz.gonna sell it at my anual jewelery sale.Funny that I got a smallish 925er and the dang stones(small for sure)are real...just never know.A beauty either way.. :occasion14:

OBN · Sep 21, 2015

Doc that's a beauty but a shame.. Good to see your still tearing it up!

Most of the big rocks rings I have found have either been Plat, or 18k or both...Think I did find one a smaller 1carat last year that was 14k..

mikeraydj · Sep 21, 2015

I remember when I almost had a heart attack when I found CZ gold.

Still was one of my favorite finds.

against the wind · Sep 21, 2015

Oh man, I remember seeing something like that at the bottom of my scoop. With the sun reflecting off the water and stones it seemed like the shiny gold was even bigger than what it was.
When I got it home,, I found out the stones were fake and it wasn't even gold.
Congrats on a nice save.

sutphin · Sep 22, 2015

EVEN MANS BEST FREIND LOOKS DISSAPOINTED .....

WHADIFIND · Sep 22, 2015

Ya already know just how special finding a ring like this is, and even zircons cost. Especially with that much craftsmanship.

I gotta question. Now, tell me, just why, this isn't "Banner" worthy? Cause the stones are not real?!?!

I think it would look VERY pretty up there!

DocBeav · Sep 22, 2015

Rustynailsandscrews said:
That happens a lot. CZ'S set in good Gold settings. I'm a part time jeweler and many women like CZ because it is very flashy and very rainbow like in reflecting light. Typically females that like big flashy rocks will request CZ. The difference between price point of a high quality diamond and CZ are huge. My wife herself likes her 3 carat Diamond. It's still a nice find and don't scrap it because it is not junk jewelry. Don't listen to the Jeweler and find out the ring size and sell it privately. You will get more for it that way. Have you trained your dog to dig your holes for you ? I'm working on training mine!

Thanks for the advice! What do you think a ring like this would be worth then? I didn't think the CZ's were in the best of shape and were scratched up. Can they be "buffed out" and have the scratches removed?

Still working on getting the dog to dig, if it's not a ghost crab or a "cat treat" she doesn't dig much...what I need to do is teach her to sniff out gold and silver!