article_snippet: Researchers led by Stockholm University biophysicist Sebastian Wärmländer say Researchers led by Stockholm University biophysicist Sebastian Wärmländer used "scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) to analyze CNN)An ancient ring's composition and found that it was in fact made of silver alloy and the "amethyst" was colored glass.
article_snippet: More significantly, Researchers led by Stockholm University biophysicist Sebastian Wärmländer found no trace of the gold that had been assumed to coat the ring and noted the presence of filing marks.
article_snippet: Together with the absence of gold on the metal surface ... filing marks clearly show that the previous description of the ring as gilded was mistaken: if the surface had been gilt and the gold layer had worn away, also the file markings would be gone.
article_snippet: But the metal surface displays no wear, and as the original file marks are still in place, the ring has never been much used.