diamond & ruby ring

[terenceowen]

If possible, please can someone help me. I have inherited a gold ring which I believe to be made circa 1900 (late Victorian) with "L.E.B&B" stamped in it, which I assume is the maker. Can L.E.B&B be identified? It also has "18Ct" which is easy to understand - but also "PI" which may be "Platinum" although it should be PT. Thank you greatly in advance if someone experienced has this knowledge and has time to share the info with me! :-)

[dognose]

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[terenceowen]

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[terenceowen]

I'm doing my best to master "imbedding" the images, but cannot seem to master this... will keep trying.

[terenceowen]

[Aguest]

The "Pl" that follows the "18k" might stand for the word "Plumb" :

"So What about the Plumb?

Plumb means “TRUE”.

It comes from the French Word “Plum” or “Plombe“, and can also mean “Completely“, “Weight“, or even “Exact“.

So now the Real Meaning of Plumb becomes clear…

It means that the Gold Stated is Correct. It’s at least the amount Stamped on the Item, or Greater (Never Less)."

I have seen the "Plumb" (KP) hallmarks on USA gold, but I have never seen it on English Gold, so we will have to see what other people think, I don't know enough to proceed further, but it is possible that this "Plumb" hallmark is seen on English Gold as well :

[terenceowen]

Thank you for your reply. Your explanation makes a lot of sense, except that the marking is "PI" (Papa India) not PL (papa lima). I suspect that the mark refers to Platinum, which should read Pt or PLAT.

Does anyone have a maker name for "L.E.B&B"?

[Aguest]

It may refer to Platinum now that I think about it, it could be "Platinum Inlaid" if there is just a thin coating of platinum over gold, there is a silver company that used the term "Inlaid Silver" and "Silver Inlaid" when they use just a thin coating of silver over base metal ::

I'm really not quite sure what the hallmarks mean on this ring, I am out of my league here :

[terenceowen]

"Platinum Inlay" makes perfect sense, as the ring certainly has signs of platinum, although my layman eyes may be mistaken. I have searched high and low through England, Scotland & Ireland for maker "L.E.B&B" with no success. I'm wondering if maybe it is European (although 18Ct would therefore probably be 18Kt), or maybe a lessor maker 100 years ago that didn't rise to prominence and therefore does not get listed in 'maker' databases. Hopefully someone out there knows! :-) PS : the box it came in had maker "The Goldsmiths & Silversmiths Company Ltd 112 Regent St London W" but I assume that the two don't marry up properly as L.E.B&B is the wrong letters and should be "G&SCo Ltd" or maybe "WC JL" for William Gibson and John Langman who are associated with the company.

[legrandmogol]

it is almost certainly English. The PI might stand for Platinum Iridium which the most common alloy used for platinum jewelry and has been since the early 1900's when platinum became very popular. As hallmarking jewelry in England wasn't obligatory 1975 and England had no Platinum hallmarks in place till 1975 you can safely date your ring as pre-1975. I'm afraid I don't know who makes though.

[terenceowen]

Thank you legrandmogul - platinum iridium sounds spot-on.

Hopefully someone else out there knows maker "L.E.B&B".