Interesting topic Maédros!
I think we're left with an unresolvable enigma on why the 3 Rings don't confer invisibility:
1) They aren't like the other rings and therefore don't make the wearer (any wearer) invisible.
2) They
would make a human or hobbit invisible, but they don't make their wearers invisible because their wearers have always been elves (or a maia in the case of Narya) who aren't subject to invisibility.
I'm not sure we have any way to choose between these possibilities.
(aside--imagine if Gollum had found one of the Three rings and it didn't make him invisible. Maybe he could have used it to keep his fish fresh, since they ward off decay) [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] )
Back to serious discussion: The other passage that may shed light on all this is Frodo's discussion with Gandalf when he wakes up in Rivendell. Frodo mentions that everything around him was fading out (Gandalf explains he was slipping into the wraith world) except Glorfindel. Gandal mentions something to the effect that
Quote:
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...those who have seen the Blessed Realm live at once in both worlds.
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Since Glorfindel was simultaneously visible to
both the Nazgul and the hobbits, I have to believe that if he were to put on the One Ring, he would have remained so. Is this because he was an elf, or because he had been to Aman? Gandalf's statement would seem to imply the latter... I guess we could use Elrond as a test case, give him the One Ring, and see if he becomes invisible [img]smilies/evil.gif[/img]
We do know that Tom Bombadil didn't become invisible after putting on the Ring. I'm not going to open the can of worms as to how Tom should be classified, but one explanation for the lack of invisibility is that Tom was in the world before Melkor brought evil, when essentially everything was like Valinor is in the 3rd Age.