Featured Question on Bracelet

Hi I am new here and want advice on what this bracelet could possibly be. I THINK it may be a Bedouin but the only stamp or etching I see is EGYPT. I cleaved it with silver polish and it shines like new. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

Welcome to the site !
A moderator will move this to the Jewelry Forum, for more eyes on it !!

@Bookahtoo
@i need help

Please !

 

Welcome, @Elizabeth Victoria! The terms aren't mutually exclusive. There is a large Bedouin population in Egypt.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedouin

Debora

 

Hi...an' yes, Welcome!
Lovely piece of silver craft...thanks!

 

Hi, welcome!

Please know that lots of metals will shine up with silver polish, that is not a test for silver. Also, despite what you may have read, a magnet not attaching is also not a test for silver

Please look it over carefully, Egypt is known for teeny, tiny silver marks, often on the front. If you find no marks you will have to take it to someone who can test for silver to be sure.

 

Where would I have it tested???? And I have looked and looked and no tiny markings.

 

The ones I'm finding via Google Lens are all marked on top and bottom front. Hard to miss.

Debora

 

Yes, that is why I am wondering if this is just scrap metal. There are no visible markings.

 

Good advice above to have it tested jic.

Debora

 

Classic Bedouin Egyptian braided bracelet and most likely 800 silver. I love these.

 

No not scrap!!!

 

Very handsome, isn't it? Most impactful worn as a pair.

Debora

 

Love these and had a pair in the 70s-never should have given them up.

 

Yes, it is from Siwa Oasis in Western Egypt, close to the border with Libya. Although they were worn in Siwa, most were made in Alexandria and Cairo.

The people who live in Siwa Oasis are Amazigh / Berber, so North Africans. Not Bedouin, who are Arab, so originally Middle Eastern. The Siwans do have good relations with Bedouin and on rare occasion there is intermarriage.

About the population of North Africa, the majority of the people are Amazigh / Berber, native North Africans.
North Africa was colonized by Arabs, and there is still an important Arab ethnic group.

 

What a delightful thumbnail sketch of North African peoples! Thank you, AJ...You are a treasure!

 

I still have my pair. Mine are not really a pair, different dates, but that doesn't matter to me.

 

Chicer that way.

Debora

 

Do you have a local jeweler you trust? You could ask them to test it for you. If not, you can take it to a scrapper and have it checked.

 

I like to have pairs of most of my ethnic bracelets, at least the ones that are traditionally worn that way. And it always looks good.
The Siwa bracelets were my husband's favourites, "are you going to wear those nice bracelets again?".

Before wrist watches many European/Western bracelets were also worn in pairs. Nicely balanced.