Jeremy Colvin
Registered User
Greetings all. I have just begun my search for answers and I would greatly appreciate any advice or information that you can provide.
A few years ago, I inherited what I believe to be a very special Free Mason ring of my grandfathers. I believe he was a 32 degree mason, I don't know the details, but I do know that he was very well respected and from what I understand pretty high on the Free Mason scale. I apologize if I'm wording that incorrectly, I am clearly not a Free Mason, and I do not know much anything about them other than what I've seen in movies, etc. What I DO know though is that receiving this ring is a great honor and that it's important to me to honor him by giving it the respect it deserves.
The ring has had a rough time in it's journey to me unfortunately. At some point after his passing (years ago) it found it's way to the hands of some not so great people who stole the center stone out of it. I assume this was a diamond stone, and after speaking with a jeweler appears that the right size stone would be about .90 carat. I had taken it to the jeweler because I wanted to look into having it restored to what it should be. Honestly, it breaks my heart that someone would have so little respect in life to have removed the stone from such a clearly symbolic artifact.
Unfortunately this isn't a cheap "repair" - I had no idea how expensive it would be, but had to take a step back when I learned it would be about $4,000 for a new stone to restore the ring. I don't have that kind of cheddar laying around, so I thanked the jeweler and told him that I would need to give it some thought.
Initially, when I was thinking about having it restored, I was thinking about restoring it with the intention of wearing it to honor him. But as I have recently read through various google searches, it appears that that is actually discouraged if you are not a Free Mason yourself. The last thing I would ever want to do would be to accidentally dishonor him, or other Free Mason's by wearing the ring as I know how much honor was important to him, as well as myself.
Which leads me now to an even bigger tough decision regarding the cost of restoring the ring. At 43 years old, with a wife and 3 young children of my own, spending $4k on something that would just sit in a display is even harder to justify than spending $4k on something that I would be able to wear and that would bring me great honor to remember him with. Especially with not knowing much about it's full meaning, etc.
So that is what I'm here for... 1. To get some advice about what direction to go and 2. Hopefully to get some more understanding of what the symbols on the ring mean.
I have taken some pictures of the ring and am hoping that someone could help me understand what the symbols on it mean. I would LOVE to have a deeper understanding of why this ring was so important to my Grandfather and what it meant to him. I think I have read somewhere that the wearer of the ring chooses the symbols based on their lodge or what it represents to him? Any help or info that you can give me about the ring and it's symbols would be greatly appreciated. Either here, or I can give you my # for a phone call.
Also, is the correct center stone a diamond? Also, I notice 4 other holes on each side of the ring in the area that looks like maybe a double eagle? Are these supposed to have stones in them, or are they supposed to just be holes?
As to which direction to go... like I said, it would cost me $4k to fix the ring, which *feels* like the "right" thing to do... but considering my other life obligations, also feels like the wrong thing to do, especially if I am not supposed to wear it. What are your thoughts on this?
Thank you, in advance, to anyone who has taken the time to read this and to respond. I greatly appreciate your time and any words that you can offer.
- Jeremy
A few years ago, I inherited what I believe to be a very special Free Mason ring of my grandfathers. I believe he was a 32 degree mason, I don't know the details, but I do know that he was very well respected and from what I understand pretty high on the Free Mason scale. I apologize if I'm wording that incorrectly, I am clearly not a Free Mason, and I do not know much anything about them other than what I've seen in movies, etc. What I DO know though is that receiving this ring is a great honor and that it's important to me to honor him by giving it the respect it deserves.
The ring has had a rough time in it's journey to me unfortunately. At some point after his passing (years ago) it found it's way to the hands of some not so great people who stole the center stone out of it. I assume this was a diamond stone, and after speaking with a jeweler appears that the right size stone would be about .90 carat. I had taken it to the jeweler because I wanted to look into having it restored to what it should be. Honestly, it breaks my heart that someone would have so little respect in life to have removed the stone from such a clearly symbolic artifact.
Unfortunately this isn't a cheap "repair" - I had no idea how expensive it would be, but had to take a step back when I learned it would be about $4,000 for a new stone to restore the ring. I don't have that kind of cheddar laying around, so I thanked the jeweler and told him that I would need to give it some thought.
Initially, when I was thinking about having it restored, I was thinking about restoring it with the intention of wearing it to honor him. But as I have recently read through various google searches, it appears that that is actually discouraged if you are not a Free Mason yourself. The last thing I would ever want to do would be to accidentally dishonor him, or other Free Mason's by wearing the ring as I know how much honor was important to him, as well as myself.
Which leads me now to an even bigger tough decision regarding the cost of restoring the ring. At 43 years old, with a wife and 3 young children of my own, spending $4k on something that would just sit in a display is even harder to justify than spending $4k on something that I would be able to wear and that would bring me great honor to remember him with. Especially with not knowing much about it's full meaning, etc.
So that is what I'm here for... 1. To get some advice about what direction to go and 2. Hopefully to get some more understanding of what the symbols on the ring mean.
I have taken some pictures of the ring and am hoping that someone could help me understand what the symbols on it mean. I would LOVE to have a deeper understanding of why this ring was so important to my Grandfather and what it meant to him. I think I have read somewhere that the wearer of the ring chooses the symbols based on their lodge or what it represents to him? Any help or info that you can give me about the ring and it's symbols would be greatly appreciated. Either here, or I can give you my # for a phone call.
Also, is the correct center stone a diamond? Also, I notice 4 other holes on each side of the ring in the area that looks like maybe a double eagle? Are these supposed to have stones in them, or are they supposed to just be holes?
As to which direction to go... like I said, it would cost me $4k to fix the ring, which *feels* like the "right" thing to do... but considering my other life obligations, also feels like the wrong thing to do, especially if I am not supposed to wear it. What are your thoughts on this?
Thank you, in advance, to anyone who has taken the time to read this and to respond. I greatly appreciate your time and any words that you can offer.
- Jeremy