David Yurman Albion Ring (18k gold + amethyst + diamonds)

Color for every day

Before Albion, colored gemstones in fine jewelry were largely kept for evenings and special occasions. David Yurman introduced the Albion collection in 1995, and one jewelry guide credits it with making bold stones something to wear every day.

The company describes the collection's cushion-cut center stone as Yurman's solution to a design problem: how to use an oversize gemstone in a refined, modern setting with classical proportions. The result was a squared stone with softly rounded corners and a domed, convex checkerboard of facets.

Twenty years after the launch, in 2015, Yurman was still extending the theme, introducing the first Albion watch, which he called "jewelry that tells time."

The sculptor's jewelry house

David Yurman, born in New York in 1942, was a sculptor and welder before he made jewelry. With his wife Sybil, a painter and ceramicist, he founded the David Yurman company in 1980, and in 1982 the company introduced the twisted Cable bracelet that became its signature.

Albion came 15 years after the company's founding. The company opened its first store in New York in 1999 and launched its first advertising campaign in 2000, with photographer Peter Lindbergh and model Amber Valletta.

The company describes Albion today as a collection of oversize gemstones with its signature cushion shape and checkerboard facets, made as rings, pendants, earrings and drop earrings in sterling silver, in silver with 18k gold, and in 18k gold with diamonds.

1995

The year Albion arrived was the year Microsoft released Windows 95, the Schengen Agreement began easing travel across European borders, and the O. J. Simpson criminal trial ended in an acquittal in October. It was also a year of grief: the Oklahoma City bombing killed 168 people in April, and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in November.

In December the Dayton Agreement was signed in Paris, ending the Bosnian War.

This ring and how to read an Albion

This entry is the 11-millimeter Albion Ring in 18k yellow gold, with a 5.73-carat amethyst center and a frame of pavé diamonds totaling 0.19 carat; the head of the ring measures 15.5 millimeters. The maker offers the same 18k design with citrine, turquoise, black onyx, malachite or Hampton blue topaz, and a sterling silver version with blue topaz, black onyx or other stones. The ring can be resized.

An authentication guide written about Albion rings describes several signs of a genuine piece: on the classic cabled Albion, the cables continue all the way around the shank and inside the band, apart from a small smooth section for sizing; the two shanks are symmetrical, start at the corners of the setting and taper toward the bottom, and twist in opposite directions to meet in a chevron. A telltale sign, the guide says, is the stone itself, because counterfeiters struggle to reproduce the fine convex checkerboard and often cut larger squares.

The guide also warns that a convincing fake can be made with real gemstones, diamonds or silver, so genuine materials alone do not prove a ring is a David Yurman.

At retail and beyond

Because the Albion ring is a current model rather than a single object, its record is its retail price. In October 2026 the maker listed this amethyst version at $4,400 in ring sizes 5 through 8 and $4,525 in size 9.

The secondary market for Albion rings is busy, and resellers note that it offers retired stone combinations, earlier designs and sizes no longer made. Prices for silver Albion rings or other stones are not prices for this ring.

The numbers

Center stone

Amethyst, 5.73 ct total weight, 11 mm cushion with checkerboard facets

Diamonds

Pavé-set, 0.19 ct total weight

Metal

18k yellow gold

Ring head

15.5 mm

Style number

R18306D88AAMDI

Production

Current model; no production figures published

Timeline

1. 1942

   David Yurman is born in New York.

2. 1980

   David and Sybil Yurman found the David Yurman company.

3. 1982

   The Cable bracelet debuts and becomes the company's signature.

4. 1995

   The Albion collection is introduced, built around cushion-cut checkerboard gemstones.

5. 1999

   The first David Yurman store opens in New York.

6. 2000

   The company's first advertising campaign is shot by Peter Lindbergh.

7. 2015

   Twenty years on, Yurman introduces the first Albion watch.

8. Oct 2026

   The 18k gold Albion Ring with a 5.73-carat amethyst lists at $4,400 to $4,525 depending on size.

The world in 1995

• Jan 17, 1995

  The Great Hanshin earthquake strikes southern Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan.

• Mar 26, 1995

  The Schengen Agreement goes into effect in several European countries.

• Apr 19, 1995

  The Oklahoma City bombing kills 168 people.

• Aug 24, 1995

  Microsoft releases Windows 95.

• Oct 3, 1995

  O. J. Simpson is found not guilty in his criminal trial.

• Nov 4, 1995

  Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated.

• Dec 14, 1995

  The Dayton Agreement is signed in Paris, ending the Bosnian War.

Price record

This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.

By reference price, David Yurman Albion Ring (18k gold + amethyst + diamonds) is number 87 of 100 in the jewelry entries of the FLOAT 100. 44 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (75 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Albion's checkerboard facets are convex, and fakes usually get them wrong with larger squares.
• On a genuine cabled Albion, the two cable shanks twist in opposite directions and meet in a chevron.
• Some convincing fakes use real gemstones and real silver.
• Yurman added an Albion watch 20 years after the collection launched, calling it "jewelry that tells time."
• The same 11 mm ring is made with six different center stones in 18k gold.