How did this woman find a vintage 18-karat gold and diamond ring for $15 at a thrift store?

Thrift stores are where rare hidden gems are found hidden in a pile of junk. Several stories of people finding literal gold in such stores have shocked the world. Recently, a Redditor u/Radiantlyred shared her story on the forum r/ThriftStoreHauls of finding a vintage 18-karat gold and diamond ring at a Goodwill store for just $15.

Finding Gold in a Pile of Junk

In the post, the user wrote that she was in disbelief when she realized that it was indeed a diamond ring. Sharing the picture of the ring, she wrote, “Nvm my nails, but I found this vintage 18k engagement ring at Goodwill for $15.”

Being a veteran thrift shopper, she did her homework and found out that the ring was indeed a real diamond and gold. In the comments, the original poster replied to several questions from the readers and she even revealed that she tested the diamond using her “gemoro diamond tester”. "I believe it’s in between .25 and .40 of a karat,” the user revealed in the comments.

Redditors couldn’t believe what the user had snagged for a mere $15. "How the heck did they miss that?" asked one user whose account has now been deleted. To this, the original poster replied that the manager told her that it was tiny and “probably not worth a lot.”

Most users were amazed by the rare find. “It's worth at LEAST its weight in gold! Seriously, that is a truly awesome find. I am proud of you! I don't seem to have the patience (or the eyesight) to look at all of the jewelry and when I see posts like this it reminds me to slow down...take my time...and maybe bring my glasses. Keep up the good work!” wrote another user, u/EvenLouWhoz .

Meanwhile, another user u/rawdaddykrawdaddy asked, “This is so pretty. I'm jealous. Does it fit you OP?” To this, the user replied that it only fits on her pinky as the size of the ring seems to be just 3/4.

Earlier this year, a nearly identical story was shared on the same subreddit by another user, u/urmomspotaytoes. The user had also found a vintage ring made of 18K gold that featured a rare emerald gem in the middle.

The best part was that the woman got the ring for just $16. The user took it to the jeweler to resize and polish it, which is how she discovered it was a high-quality emerald and 18k gold ring. The jeweler even confirmed that it was definitely worth more than $2,000.

The woman further confirmed that the ring also had tiny diamonds around the edges.

When asked how did she find the ring, the user wrote, “Right at the counter. The ones we go to the counters are glass cases and there’s jewelry inside of them. If that makes sense. My daughter is the one who usually checks out all the jewelry. This just caught my eye as we were checking out,” indicating that it was indeed a very lucky find.

For more such stories, follow r/ThriftStoreHauls on Twitter.