Jewelry Gemstone Insiders Guide

There are more and more questions coming with regard Hallmarks as it seems to be a major confusion for people. Here is a typical example on a Gold Bangle

QUESTION..?

Good morning. I have recently seen a piece (locking bangle) with the marks "pat.jan08" on one side of the hinge and "JM or JMT & CO." on the other side of the hinge. very tiny.

I cannot find anything on the net about these hallmarks.

The piece appears to be gold and has 3 pinkish, red stones set in the top of the bangle. The piece does not seem solid. but I am 99% sure it is gold.

Any information on this piece would be greatly appreciated.

Thankyou for your time and expertise.

ANSWER..!

You didn't say where you live, so I'm going to assume it's the States?

You also didn't say if this was a new item or an estate item, but again, I am going to assume it is at least secondhand if not Vintage.

Hinged Bangles are generally hollow and to increase the 'Apparent' weight - are filled with jewelers wax to make them appear heavy. There's a great article about this on the 20th Century Antique Jewelry Website.

The marks (stamped or engraved?) could simply be as a ID or gift mark for 'Pat' whose Birthday or Anniversary was January 8th?

The other Marks would be the Manufacture or Maker's Marks but the only JM would be for John Moore of Dublin - many years ago in the 18th Century.

So you see why it is important to know how old - AND - where you live or purchased the item. The History is always a great clue when we try to track down an item's past.

The gems are possibly garnets or garnet doublets, but without seeing them and testing..? Maybe pink sapphire? - They are Not just blue.

You need to take the item to a qualified appraiser and have them do a full (expensive) report on it. That's the only way you will know for sure.

Hope this helps.

Tags: antique jewelry, apparent weight, gold bangle, jewelry website, s marks

A Client recently wrote to me about sanding a small silver cross pendant which was making deep scratches from sanding. They wanted to know how to get rid of the scratches faster and prevent getting parts of it thiner than other parts?

ANSWER..!

STOP...

Firstly you should NEVER sand gold or silver. Jewelers use a very fine (like wet and dry) paper for the initial smoothing or shaping process to get rid of rough edges.

Once that is done they polish scratches out using a black/grey 'Tripoli' polish on a polishing machine (looks like a bench grinder).

This takes the first level of scatches away.

Then they use a red polish called 'Jewelers Rouge' to give the final finish.

Between each step they would clean in a liquid solution to get rid of the residual polish before moving on to the next step.

Please do not use sandpaper, as this will eventually destroy your item by wearing it thinner.

These two polishes come in a large 'Cake' block, like an old fashioned bar of soap and can be purchased at jewelry supply stores or even some good hardware shops.

But by the time you paid for all these - together with machines and mops etc - it's easier and far less costly to give it to your local jeweler and have them professionally clean it up for you.

There is also an excellent article on cleaning your jewelry at home at the Antique Jewelry website at this address: Antique Jewelry of the 20th Century

This should help.

Tags: antique jewelry, bench grinder, jewelers rouge, jewelry supply, jewelry website