Art Deco Plainville Stock Co. Uranium Glass Ring

Yes, this demure Art Deco era ring is exquisite, but did you know that it is also harboring a secret? 

By day, this 10k yellow gold beauty would fool any admirer into thinking they were gazing upon a stunning garnet doublet or even a highly coveted peridot. But under the cover of darkness is when the truth is revealed. For once this ring is exposed to ultraviolet light, it produces a light show of its own!

The reason: uranium!

Although the centerpiece of this ring may look like a stone, it is actually a lovely collet set oval cut piece of uranium glass made by the Massachusetts based Plainville Stock Company.

As the name implies, uranium glass (or sometimes referred to as vaseline glass) is glass with trace amounts of uranium added before the melting process. The addition of this oxide diuranate not only gives this glass a distinctive green color, but also causes it to fluoresce under UV light.

First identified by a German chemist in 1789, it wasn't long until this glowing colorant was being added to different types of decorative glassware from vases to dinner plates, nick-knacks to jewelry.

In the US, uranium glass was immensely popular from the 1880s up until the second World War, when the government confiscated the majority of the uranium supplies for the Manhattan Project.

After the war, restrictions on uranium usage were lifted, but by then the uranium glass bubble had burst. Today, uranium glass -- particularly jewelry -- is back at the top of collectors' must-have list thanks to TikTok!