A very rare, delicate, gold amethyst ring was recovered on the famed shipwreck site of the Nuestra Senora de Atocha by SCUBA divers in the Caribbean it was announced yesterday.
In the year 1622, 35 miles off the coast of Key West, Florida the Spanish Galleon Nuestra Senora de Atocha sank in a violent hurricane en route from Havana, Cuba back to Spain.
Famed underwater treasure hunter Mel Fisher first began searching for this wreck years ago. Today, Fisher’s family and crew continue the search he began for the rear section of the ship, which has been dubbed the Sterncastle. This portion of the ship is known to have held the wealthiest of passengers and thus some of the most precious artifacts and jewelry.
The Fisher’s most recent find, announced yesterday, is a rare gold ring bearing a deep purple amethyst stone. It was found by the seasoned crew of the salvage vessel J.B. Magruder, Captained by Andy Matroci.
It is a rare one-of-a-kind artifact that Kim Fisher describes: “It is a plain gold band with a large box-shaped gold setting on the top with an amethyst inside. The amethyst is so dark it is almost black.
It probably would have come from a large crystal in order to be that dark. We have found several other rings with similar characteristics without stones in them, or with emeralds, but this is the first ring with an amethyst found on the Atocha site.”
Treasure! – The Search for the Atocha (History Channel) (A&E DVD Archives)
Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea
