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What does a b mean on silver
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Treble Plate. This stamp means that three layers of silver plating were applied to a base metal during manufacturing. The term I have chosen for today is Aurora Borealis, or simply AB for short. This is a term mostly seen with crystals and glass beads. In.
How to Identify Silver, an Illustrated Guide | Martha Stewart.
French silver also is punched with the mark of the maker, by law in the shape of a lozenge, usually with the maker’s initials and a symbol. SA SG. In an effort to continue my jewelry education, I thought it would be nice to define some jewelry terms from time to time. English Silver Hallmarks midth century to ca. Most commercial German agate is artificially. Name later applied to substitutes such as pearls, coral, rock and glass. Marked PAJ
What does a b mean on silver. Jewelry Terms Decoded: Aurora Borealis (AB)
Arch dials were introduced about the year Prior to then, dials of such clocks were square with a straight edge at top. Arkansas diamond — An especially bad misnomer for quartz.
In the case it is more than ordinarily to be condemned, since genuine diamonds are also found in Arkansas, and there could well be confusion. Arkansas stone — A whitish gray stone used as a fine abrasive in solid or powdered form to prepare graves or pivot for polishing.
Art Nouveau — Late 19th and early 20th Century style of art that found its way into jewelry. It is generally depicted as curved, flowing, assymetrical forms, recurring and intertwining as leaves, flowers and insects.
Assay Office — 1. Parts of the Treasury Department; the U. In certain foreign countries, governmental agencies place their mark on precious-metal fabrications. Asscher — diamond shape named after the world-renowned cutter Joseph Asscher; square with cut corner.
To put parts of a watch or clock together to make up a complete timepiece. Star sapphires are best known, but star garnet, beryls and rose quartz are known; in the latter it is very common. It is caused by an internal arrangement of microscopic needles of an included mineral or of tubular cavities parallel to the shape the mineral has in nature.
Sidereal time. Mean solar time shown on a dial with hours numbered from 1 to 24 instead of from 1 to 12, or noon to midnight and midnight to noon. Atlas ore — A misnomer for malachite. Atlas pearls, spar, or stone in a fibrous, colorless, red, blue, or green calcite, which, when polished, has a silky luster. The name is also applied to the still softer gypsum of the same character, also known as satin pear.
Examples of it are in nearly all watch and clock collections. Automata of largest size are on some ancient architectural clocks in Europe. Used with quartz, it refers to a green variety of quartzite which contains flakes of green mica. Aventurine feldspars, such as sunstone, contain flakes of hematite which reflects light in certain positions.
This is usually reddish brown in color. Aventurine glass is a very widely used product, now less so then formerly, which contains crystals of copper in a brown ground mass. The name originated through the accidental Italian aventura-chance discovery of this effect. This must be about the only instance when the jewelers have applied the name cheap artificial product to a better natural stone. Also known as goldstone and widely sold as a local product. The unit is a pound containing Troy grains.
The Troy pound contains grains. It is rarely seen in the trade. The name refers to the wedge-shape of the natural crystals. The crystal systems are based upon the axes, and range from three equal axes at right angles to each other in the isometric system, to three unequal axes at oblique angles to each other in the triclinic system. The theoretical center of motion of an arbor or other rotating object. A soft, compact-grained stone used in the form of a flat lap, or slip, with water, to flatten or smooth out imperfections in watch parts, etc.
Also called sapphire quartz and siderite; no more desirable terms then the above. Commonly cut into bright blue or blue-and-green cabochons. Soluble in acid and reatively soft, azurite must be handled with caution. When the current is stopped, the field collapses in the opposite direction. A rectangularly-shaped small diamond or other gem stone. A very small rectangular bracelet watch. Originally, a French term describing a small watch worn as a ring. Baguette setting — A rectangular-shaped stone with rows of step-like facets.
Baguettes in long, thin cut rectangles are often used as enhancements to a lager center stone, or on a watch bezel. The locality is noted for the large size and purity of the material, but dark shades are rarer than in Southern Brazilian and Uralian stones. Bahia emerald — A name now of no special significance, since there are several emerald sources in Bahia, Brazil, yielding stones with widely differing characteristics.
Some, as in Salininha, are vanadium-pigmented. However, most, like those of Carnaiba and Conquista, are perfectly normal emeralds by any standards.
It can be dyed any color and is often sold as an amber imitation. It can be readily identified by the formaldehyde smell which results when a hot needle is pressed into it.
Balas ruby — A misnomer for red spinel. From rubin Balais from Balascia, a synonym for Badakshan, Afghanistan, which furnished the best stones in the Middle Ages. Balbach process — Method of refining silver containing small amounts of gold.
Anodes of impure silver are electrolyzed in an acidified silver nitrate bath; pure silver is deposited on a carbon cathode. Same as Thum or Tham-Babach process. Formerly found with iron concretions in Breqau. Probably an equivalent of the California poppy stone. They have a confused, intergrown internal structure which makes cleaving through them impossible, and consequently, they are tougher them usual diamonds when used as tool tips.
Baltic amber — Amber from East Prussia and neighboring beaches. Most amber in commerce in mined in this locality. The term occurs with cups and candlesticks. A ridge or belt, usually plain but sometimes ribbed or decorated, about the main body of a vessel such as a coffee pot or a tankard. A wedding ring. A watch strap or bracelet. The bands are characterized by slight differences in pore spaces and grain size, usually the banding is exaggerated by differential dye absorption.
Almost all banded agate in the trade is artificially colored. Used more frequently by silversmith than jewelers who prefer the micrometer or douzieme gauge. Any solid or adjusting stop for escapement to limit its movement. Roller jewel striking outside of fork due to excessive motion of balance.
Bar setting — Similar to the channel setting, it is a circular band of diamonds or gemstones that holds each stone in by a long thin bar, shared between two stones. Barion cut — A patented square-shaped mixed cut a for diamonds, introduced in by Basil Watermeyer of Johannesburg, South Africa; named after his wife Marion, with the first letter of her name replaced by that of his.
A full emerald cut crown is combined with a brilliant cut pavilion, modified by four half-moon facets parallel to the square girdle, and with four pavilion facets that form a cross when seen through the table.
It rivals the round cut for brilliance, surpasses the round cut in weight retention. A square barion cut diamond has 61 facets, excluding the culet. Batium increases both the relative weight specific gravity , and the reflecting power brilliance.
It is most often formed with an eccentric knife-edge cutting wheel in a flexible shaft machine. Watch cases, bracelets and dials are often ornamented in this way.
So called for its similarity to tree bark. An ornamental bar, with a pin and clasp mounted on the back, to be worn in the hair. A file with teeth cut on lower side, and its back uncut and of ridged cross section, also known as a safety back file.
The pallet bridge. The variations in thickness produce interesting gradations of color. It is used in small art objects. The luster comes from the coarse crystal grains of original mineral bronzite, which has been altered to the serpentine.
The anode material is zinc amalgamated with pure mercury or silver oxide, topped with a barrier and electrolyte. Batteries designed for LED, LC-digital, analog and sonic watches are seldom interchangeable; hearing aid batteries should never be used in watches. Most watch batteries are designed to meet their normal requirements for more then a year.
Clock batteries are of similar compostion, but their shapes may very depending upon the space available. Formerly found near Haid and Treseburg-Bodetal in the Harz. A narrow semi-circular moulding such as an astragal.
A form of stone cutting suitable for stringing, necklaces, etc. A hollow metal sphere used in necklaces, etc. A circular or elliptical stone worn as part of a neckchain or bracelet. One of a number of fasteners raised from the background metal to secure stones.
The stones are held by the beads which are raised by the diamond setter from the surrounding metal. A variety of gem-stone setting in which the clamps over the edge of the stone are formed by pressing into the metal a punch which has a hemispherical hollow, which forms the bead. A detail of ornament on jewelry, watch cases, etc. The girdle looks fuzzy, lacks the normal smooth, waxy finish.
Bearding or girdle fringes — The outermost portion of the stone, called the girdle, can develop small cracks that resemble whiskers during the polishing process. The bearding can sometimes be removed, if not too dramatic, with slight re-polishing, and if the weight allows.
Holes in the framework of a timepiece movement in which pivots run. The groove or shoulder in which a stone is fitted in a piece of jewelry. This number is fixed by the total gear ratio of the train between center wheel and escape wheel, inclusive, and must be matched by the beat-number of the balance assembly.
Found near Aden and elsewhere. Erroneously called backite. Some strands are graduated beads of one stone and shape. Other combine many shapes, sizes and colors of jasper, agate, carnelian, moss agate, bloodstone and chalcedony. The standard mark above is smaller than the diameter of the lead in the wooden pencil shown for comparison. Any mark under one-sixteenth of an inch is suspect.
Virtually without exception, authentic marks on vintage silver and silver plate were stamped, not cast. Reproductions, particularly new silver plate, are generally cast in molds. Since new molds are usually made by copying originals, marks on originals are usually transferred to the new molds.
Cast marks are almost always blurred with impressions of uneven depth. Stamped marks are generally much cleaner and sharper than cast marks. The oval tab marked shown here is soldered on a new rattle. Some authentic Victorian-era silver-plated pieces do bear applied discs with the manufacturers name.
However, even those discs should be examined very carefully. Many genuinely old marked discs have been removed from inexpensive common pieces and applied to more expensive pieces. Marked PAJ Pieces with this mark were widely sold throughout the US beginning in the late s-early s. The presence of the mark is a clue to this piece’s recent manufacture. All very good quality. No vintage silver is marked REO.
No old counterpart of the GJ mark is known. The mark was first found on a group of new silver match safes with sports themes. Several of the pieces were close copies of known original shapes. The golfer match safe shown here Fig.
Exact source thought to be Thailand, but that is not certain. Sterling and virtually never appeared as separate words standing apart in vintage marks. Marked Tiffany Studio New York on back. No old counterparts were ever made.
This is a fantasy product. Same piece also available in brass bronze. A well made mark, deeply and evenly stamped. A well researched mark which includes a date stamp in the bottom line, M. Fortunately the forger overlooked the order number and pattern number. See original mark below. The original includes both a pattern and order number missing in the fake. The pattern number appears on the left of the word Makers; the order number appears to the right see white arrows.
Note that the individually stamped order and pattern numbers are not perfectly aligned, a typical sign of custom stamping. An original Unger Bros. The new Unger mark has a large dot in the bottom of the letter U. The fake is made from two pieces of silver. First, the lady’s head was die-stamped, then a sheet of silver was soldered on the back.
Most of the treasure was in the form of silver bars. Rather than sell the bars for little more than scrap, the silver was cast into the shapes of 17th century Spanish coins and made into jewelry.
A advertisement promoting the Atocha jewelry is shown at right. All the coinlike objects shown in the advertisement were cast from silver ingots recovered from the ship.
A fact only disclosed in very confusing language in extremely small print. With earring posts, hanging loops and other jewelry findings removed, Atocha pieces are sometimes offered as old Spanish coins, far right. Atocha does not appear on any Spanish coins. The date is when the Atocha sank; Atocha pieces were made after The hallmark for sterling silver varies from nation to nation, often using distinctive historic symbols, although Dutch and UK Assay offices no longer strike their traditional hallmarks exclusively in their own territories and undertake assay in other countries using marks that are the same as those used domestically.
One of the most highly structured hallmarking systems in the world is that of the United Kingdom, Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland , and Ireland. These five nations have, historically, provided a wealth of information about a piece through their series of applied punches.
Since the year , the French assay mark for items made of solid silver is the head of the goddess Minerva in profile. The French have two standards for silver purity or fineness. Both standards are marked with the head of Minerva inclusive of a numeral 1 or 2 to indicate the standard. French silver made for export carries an assay mark in the shape of the head of Mercury, along with a number to indicate the millesimal fineness: “1” for.
French silver also is punched with the mark of the maker, by law in the shape of a lozenge, usually with the maker’s initials and a symbol. In the early United States, no national assaying system was adopted, although the city of Baltimore did maintain its own assay office between and Until the s, the symbol for the silversmith was often a plant or an animal suggesting the family name.
Today, initials are used. Experts at Sotheby’s auction house report that markings vary by country—and submissions from potential auctioneers require considerable research just to determine whether a piece is sterling. We’re sharing a few examples of confounding silver marks from across the globe below. Early Asian sterling is marked with Asian characters. This sterling spoon from the former British colony of Hong Kong, however, is obviously geared toward English speakers.
This piece from Warsaw, Poland proclaims its origin, but it says nothing about its silver content. On the right, the slash marks on the back of this spoon identify the piece as German, and another clue is the shield with the eagle. On the other hand, 90 is a standard marking for silver plate originating from Germany, and this is located on the bottom of the spoon’s handle. The number bottom is a common notation for silver in Russia. The one pictured, however, is a German. This sterling spoon bears the hallmarks for Scotland, which is the thistle, and for Edinburgh, marked using the castle, as well as the profile of George III.
The information in this Italian example is hard to decipher: IAB is a signifier for pure sterling , although not all Italian sterling carries that mark. French silver almost always has marks placed on the top of the piece because tables are set with bowls of spoons and tines of forks facing downward.
These straightforward marks on this piece of Danish silver identify that it’s sterling. It was made in Copenhagen, and the silversmith was H. Our illustrated guide highlights the subtle ways you can discover the origins of any piece of silver. Pin More. Early U. Gorham Company.
