Time period of several old watch fobs

Discussion in 'Jewelry' started by drg642, Nov 19, 2024 at 12:59 PM.

  1. drg642

    drg642 Well-Known Member

    I’ve done a lot of googling to try to get the time period right on these fobs. I’m thinking 1 and 2 possibly Georgian, or Victorian; 3 and 4 Victorian; and 5 Edwardian. What do you all think?

    None are gold or silver, I think all gold filled, but I wonder about #1. It was black around the frame and fob, and to my surprise cleaned up as you see. It has not been my experience that gold filled discolors to black, or that it cleans up like that. I thought it might be gilt silver, but does not test as silver. What metal do you think this is?

    All help and comments appreciated. Thanks!

    fobs1.JPG fobs2.JPG fobs3.JPG fobs4.JPG fobs5a.JPG fobs7c.JPG
     
  2. Any Jewelry

    Any Jewelry Well-Known Member

    I think you could be right, and they are beauties.
    I wonder if the girl on the cameo of #5 is Austrian or Bavarian.
    That sounds like gilt silver. Maybe the gold is interfering with the test result?
     
    bercrystal likes this.
  3. drg642

    drg642 Well-Known Member

    Thanks AJ.

    You can see under magnification the base metal of the spot where I rubbed on the stone to test, and other high points that have worn through over time. These are coppery/gold in color, and none of the wear through spots test for silver. The testing I did is classic gold filled, with both 9k acid and 10 acid doing a slow fade to completely dissolve the line on the testing stone. I've just never seen gold filled tarnish to black, and then clean up. I will probably take this to get XRF tested the next time I go to my scrap metal place, and see what it comes up. I'll report back.
     
    bercrystal and Any Jewelry like this.
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