Judaic pin materials and symbol?

I'm very curious about this piece... The larger beads appear to have a hint of nacre, and some slubs on one. But looking at the smaller beads, wondering... those look and feel more like stone.

The metal does not test for gold - but my chemicals may be old, dunno. The ram piece is obviously not, but the pin itself "looks like" and the other pieces when scraped on the stone are gold thoughout.

The symbol we were guessing is a chai - and it does look similar to a dreidel.

Other than that, what is this? a mourning piece or a wearable __ ?

Thanks, guys for any input.

 

It's not Hebrew or even close. Japanese is more likely. This link is supposed to bha Chai pendant ...if it works. The rest of it looks like a 60s earring hooked to a kilt pin. Beyond that, I have no idea.

 

I realize they don't look exactly like the letter on a dreidel (there are a few of them here) Sometimes, a handwritten symbol will look different...

For all I know, it's a mathematical symbol!

 

it looks like a variation of PI...

 

Pi certainly looks closer. Here's a Wiki link to the Hebrew: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_alphabet
Pi: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi

 

I was following Yellowdestoyer's thread on Russian jewelry (again, whoa). The input on marks got me thinking about this again - I think I figured it out. Still isn't gold, and probably not of great value, but I love it and enjoyed satisfying my own curiosity!

I recognized an empty pin online as a kilt pin, then started looking into Celtic/Scottish heraldry symbols and Pi signs -

So I'm connecting Phi symbol with plummet and ram's head together as: The Golden Section (cosmology+building+measuring unit) with some kind of upright action/a virtuous person in position of authority.



The stones I'm identifying as volcanic rock or African trade beads?? only because for a while I thought it might be a vintage piece by Robert Lee Morris - he designed a lot of jewelry (in the 80s) for Donna Karan - I thought this looked similar.

I really don't know what the stones are, but included these images, since they turn out to be very collectible couture ($$) pieces someone else might run across:



A little closer. The tiny divots (not in the images) around the findings look like glass chips (round).

 

Robert Lee Morris is generally marked RLM. His stuff can be worth a few bucks.

 

Yeh, I've been pricing a lot of RLM stuff the last 6 months - Some is marked RLM Studios and some Robert Lee Morris.

I'll upload one other script logo from vintage sterling later, if you're interested - took me a long time to figure it out. He does sell a lot on QVC, but was an established designer before working with Karan in the 80s, they made some really nice things together.

Some of those are worth looking for. The pieces I included are from his "African Bead" line - I wouldn't mind having a piece, myself.

We found one 18k/diamond bracelet in the kitchen (New in Saks box) at a sale we did recently - hot damn, never did find a comp on that one!

 

Hm. I think that's a very stylised TK.

 

You mean "TK" as a mark?

I WISH it was a maker's mark, might make it more $?

 

It might not raise the value, but having a maker does help things sell. People can search for names a lot easier than a pin on a safety pin clasp.

 

Funny thing is evelyb30, you mentioned kilt pin in your first response I just noticed that! haha

Probably more people are looking for "kilt pins" than "pin on a safety pin clasp!"

Anyway, it caught my eye - everyone has their thing, I reckon.

 

Here's the other RLM logo I came across, evelyb30

 

Yes, TK as some kind of maker's mark. I've seen other stuff which incorporated the initials of the maker - Nina Ricci and Joan Rivers, for example.

 

Scout, I looked for a similar symbol with no luck. I thought possibly Celtic or Egyptian again no real luck. The closest I found was included with the Celtic fish symbol. The description explained the fish, salmon, but not a word about the stuff and such with it.

"In Celtic mythology the Salmon of Wisdom were the keepers of all knowledge, which they gained by eating the nuts of the sacred hazel trees.

Salmon and trout were often linked to sacred wells and springs, which were places of physical healing and Celtic symbols of spiritual rebirth."



http://celticsymbols.net/celtic-fish-symbol/

http://celticsymbols.net/

--- Susan

 

Thanks, Ladybranch! that looks pretty darned close - just opposite of the way I was reading it...

That is a beautiful illumination!

The mental image of a salmon eating hazelnuts is an odd one! I'm sure there's a story attached to that...