Photo Credit: Brilliance-Jewels
Marraccini Designer Contemporary Stackable Rings with Diamonds and Precious Gems
Buy It Now Price: $2,500 (price as of 2016; item no longer available)
Pros:
-This is an amazing set of 14 karat yellow gold and gemstone contemporary stackable rings. They are set with amethyst, pink tourmaline, diamonds and an unidentified opaque white stone that may be jade or milky quartz.
-Although the photo shows the rings as a single unit, they are actually four separate rings meant to be stacked on top of each other in varying configurations.
-Each ring is hallmarked "14K" and individually signed "Marraccini ©". Marraccini Designs is a jewelry studio located in Charlottesville, Virginia run by Lee Angelo Marraccini.
-Mr. Marraccini began designing and selling jewelry in 1974. In fact, he still offers similar stackable rings although the rings featured here are definitely vintage designs with a distinctly more cubist feel.
-These contemporary stackable rings were obviously designed and crafted with great care. The gems are also of good quality and were carefully chosen for maximum aesthetic effect. These are absolutely top quality pieces of contemporary jewelry.
-These rings share a highly linear design language coupled with boldly colored accent stones. This makes them prime examples of contemporary "neo-cubist" style - otherwise known as 1980s style.
Cons:
-The stones mounted in the rings are not expensive and are probably worth no more than $100 altogether. Likewise, I would be surprised if the total weight of the rings exceeds 16 grams (0.51 troy ounces), giving a maximum gold value of about $403 with gold spot prices hovering around $1,339 a troy ounce. This results in a total possible intrinsic value for the rings of about $500, well below the $2,500 asking price.
-At $2,500, this set of contemporary stackable rings is definitely a little pricey. But exceptional designer jewelry is always expensive and these rings are among the best. Another way to think of it is that each individual ring is only $625 - still not cheap, but definitely more palatable.
