It's every diver's dream:stumbling across a priceless treasure trove in the watery depths.

And those dreams became reality when a shipwreck salvage company struck gold with the discovery of a stunning 17th century ring in Florida Keys.

Mel Fisher's Treasures, founded by the late American treasure hunter, discovered the ring alongside two silver spoons at the shipwreck site of the Nuestra Senora de Atocha; the most famous ship of a Spanish fleet that sank in 1622.

With an emerald measuring 2.7cm in diameter, the artefact is the largest emerald box ring to be recovered from the Atocha, making it a one-of-a-kind piece of jewellery worth more than £250,000.

Sean Fisher, Vice President of Mel Fisher's Treaures, who was on board when the ring was discovered, says, 'This is the most significant artefact I have personally seen them bring out of the water.'

The company has been working the shipwreck site of the Nuestra Senora de Atocha since 1969 and have recovered a quarter of a billion pounds worth of historic artefacts, gold, silver and emeralds. They estimate that the remaining wealth will total a further £250million.

The intriguing question is: who did this magnificent ring belong to? The gold band has an ornate design carved into its exterior, with the initials VRC appearing on the inside, just beneath the emerald. Was the ring on the finger of a man or a woman? An aristocrat or a military leader? We can only imagine...

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