So when a British woman stumbled upon a beautiful ring at a flea market, she was confident it would perfectly complement her wardrobe.
It wasn't until many decades later that she realized she had actually bought something completely different, of which she had no idea.
As reported: Fakta.today
One lucky flea market find.
If you've ever been to a flea market or spent a lot of time in your favorite consignment shop, you know the drill. One find can change your life. But that's not what an anonymous British woman in the 80s was thinking when she came across a flea market. She was looking for something completely unique.
More precisely, she needed jewelry and was trying to find something she liked. A considerable amount of jewelry was simply laid out in a huge container on the side of the road, and necklaces were strung on a string just above the container with rings, earrings, and chains.
One ring caught the girl's eye. While sorting through the rings, she noticed a massive ring. It was pretty vulgar. The luxurious ring she liked looked like some sort of costume decoration.
After paying approximately 10 pounds for her new treasure, the girl returned home without knowing how much she could actually gain from such a purchase.
Everyday accessory.
The ring became one of her daily accessories. The stone was massive and resembled something that would appear on the crown of an English queen. At first, she knew the diamond couldn't be real. It was too big to be a real jewel that could be purchased at a flea market for 10 pounds.
Secondly, the diamond cut was peculiar - it wasn't as shiny as a real stone, and the environment was cloudy. Nevertheless, she loved the ring so much that she wore it every day for another 30 years without thinking about how much it might actually be worth... Until one day, her ring caught the attention of a jeweler.
He recommended that she have the ring evaluated because he thought there was a chance the diamond could be real. The woman was skeptical, but she still decided to have the stone evaluated. A quick glance by a professional led to a rather stunning discovery. The legitimacy of the stone was confirmed.
The unrealistically large diamond that this woman wore on her finger for almost 30 years was not fake at all. It was certified by the Gemological Institute of America as a 26-carat diamond.
The cut was not modern but rather typical of the way precious stones were cut in the 19th century, which was the reason the woman originally assumed the stone was fake.
Jessica Wyndham of Sotheby's Department immediately noticed the unique cut. The diamond can boast a nice geometric pattern that must have reflected light completely differently than modern diamonds. It shines less brightly with a warmer glow than modern diamond sparkles.
"With an old style of cutting, the light doesn't reflect back as much as it would from a modern stone cut to today's symmetry proportions, which means that these stones often have a more subtle glow and depth of color to them," Wyndham explained.
Once the legitimacy of the diamond was confirmed, the woman decided to put it up for auction.
The ring was originally expected to sell for around 350,000 pounds, but when the diamond went up for auction, the owner had another stroke of luck. She couldn't even imagine that it could be worth that much. In the auction, the diamond was sold to an anonymous buyer for 847,000 pounds.
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