Featured amber and wool rosary, broken cameo, ivory

I tested the necklace for bakelite, negative. No seam lines. The beads are dark-brown, but when held up to the light, I can see some inclusions. Three woolly ends on one side, two on the other. Is it a rosary?

Cameo is broken. Looks old, judging by the C clasp. Is it Victorian? Worth having it fixed?

The earrings and bracelet have those lines that make me think they're ivory. What am I supposed to do with them? Are they basically worthless if they're ivory?

 

not worthless.....hold them till a buyer comes along..

 

Barn, did you test the brown beads for fluorescence under a UV light? Are they warm or cold to the touch? Btw, it is not a rosary.

C-clasps with that separate base started to appear ca 1870. The cameo is one for
@Bronwen.

 

I don't have a UV light, but I'll get one. Would amber gleam under a fluorescence light? It's warm to the touch.

 

Most amber will change colour under UV, not all. The colours can vary, generally yellowish green to nearly orange. Sometimes white, yellow, green or bluish. I've even seen a stomach-turning pinkish yellow.
Small UV flashlights are cheap.

 

It is Victorian, although agree with AJ, based also on the type of cameo, that brooch is 1870 or later. Photos are fuzzy, & grainy when enlarged, so hard to gauge condition with complete confidence, but reasonably sure the cameo is hardstone (agate). It's of a common general type, but unusual because the lady is wearing a hat. Cameo, pearls (check whether or not artificial) & enamel appear to be in good shape. When new, this was quite a nice piece, & at one time someone treasured it enough to have their initials engraved on the back.

The metal should be tested. Bar across the back is not the same as the part of the mount that shows when worn, & the discoloration on the bezel makes me wonder if it is different from the frame around it. If I were evaluating it for sale, I would have all parts tested & state the results in the description.

Looks to me as though it has been repaired at least once before, not very skillfully, as there is solder now on the front at 9 o'clock, which is the one significant defect. I do not know if there is any way this can be remedied/ameliorated.

The cameo market has gone wacky. The price of gold seems to be a bigger driver of prices achieved than quality of the cameo itself. If the main body of the setting is gold & the pearls are real, I would definitely consult with a trusted jeweller about restoring it to wearable condition & about what measures, at what cost, could be taken to improve it cosmetically.

Even if no part is solid gold, think it would still find a buyer if the price is right, but, unless work could be done quite inexpensively, not sure I would sink the money into it.

 

Does not look like one to me, worry beads, maybe. How big?

 

It is a little hard to tell from the photograph, but that cameo looks like taille d'epargne. From Lang Antiques, "where engraved lines forming a design are incised into the metal and are filled with opaque enamel- usually black".

The brooches I've come across that are taille d'epargne are usually gold filled though of course it's always best to test when in doubt.
.

 

I don't think taille d’épargne ever lays one color over another, does it? Cameos are sometimes made using pâte sur pâte.

Edit: Oh, sorry. Think you meant the mount for the cameo is taille d’épargne, not the cameo itself?

 

Amber will only show the blue veil under UV. it's the effect of internal refraction by the amber changing the wavelength of the light and diffusing it, not fluorescence. You aren't seeing the amber glow, but rather the refracted light. A fluorescent light has the wrong wavelength so won't work.

 

This bangle is from the same stylistic period.

 

I tried testing it with my new acid kit and it tested positive for 10k on the front/side portion of the brooch. But this is only my second time using the kit, so I don't know if it's rolled gold (or if rolled gold would have a different result). I'm not going to sell it until I can get it verified, so I guess I'll take it to a jeweler's. There's a small slot on the top for a jump ring, so even if I don't get it repaired, it can still be used as a pendant. The pearls are real.

 

I bought one of those little starter kits for testing gold & silver, then have never had the nerve to try it. The bottles of acid have never been opened, so don't know if they would even give reliable results now. Maybe the best way to learn is to test some things yourself, then have a jeweller test them & see if the results agree. You can ask about testing rolled gold, etc.

Not surprised that the main component would test as gold & pearls are genuine. I do believe it is a good quality piece. If setting is British, it may be 9ct.

Having the option to wear as a pendant definitely improves its interest for potential buyers.

 

As long as you don't put the acid directly on the jewellery but use a test stone, you'll be fine. Just rub a part you don't see when wearing it, like the back, on the stone. And put a drop of the acid on the metal rubbing on stone.
The acid could have deteriorated by now, the silver testing fluid in particular tends to oxidize.

 

Thanks for all the tips & encouragement. Yes, I think to be sure I had a degree of accuracy, I would need to get a new batch of acids.

I knew not to put it on directly, & kit included the stone, so have that. Problem is that only visible elements may be solid gold, with the behind the scenes parts being of lesser metal. It can be hard to find an inconspicuous spot to take test scraping.

I had a whole flap over a very expensive cameo locket that was represented as better than 18K. As soon as I received it, just my eye & experience said to me that front & large ornamented bail were one thing, back door & interior components of the locket something else. I dawdled on taking it to jeweller to have it tested while it was there for some work it needed.

When I took it in, he tested it right then & pronounced it not solid gold at all. Asked him to please test it in a few different spots while he had it. My delay meant I could not complain about the transaction, but informed seller anyway, who was concerned but confident they had not misrepresented.

You will see this coming. Jeweller, not wanting to damage in any way, tested the gold filled back & assumed results applied to the entire piece, while seller had tested the parts visible when worn & made the same assumption.

 

As to the ivory..... I have mixed feelings about it, but I do pick it up when I see it sold as costume....unfortunately, we just saw the last male Northern white rhino die. The damage is done and cannot be undone. I would like to see a program where all the old ivory, not necessarily antique, is sold to those who think it has magical properties. I would like the money put towards conservation of the current elephant populations, even it if means 24- hour armed protection, including shoot-to-kill policies in regards to poachers. And I would like to see education of the younger generations in regards to conservation and how ivory doesn't have magical properties...... any other thoughts?

 

Hi Marko,
The worst of it all is thousands of tons of ivory are burned and destroyed every so often. It leads to more killing and drives the price up. Did anyone think that perhaps of selling the stock piles would bring the price down and stop the poaching? I am so stressed over all the nonsense that is happening. As to the last white rhino male dying, his sperm is frozen for lots of fertility implants. Unfortunately the last two female white rhinos are his daughter and granddaughter.
greg

 

It's a catch -22.....sell off the thousands of tons of ivory that was burned up, instead of destroying it.....while having a ban on ivory.......how does one do that ?
The burned up ivory was only several years old...to maybe only weeks old....
I mean, they could have maybe only sold it into china??? at firesale prices?

Then what ?
You can't guard every elephant all the time....& you can't lock them up either....

So....what can ya do.....?

I believe they'll keep killing elephant...till there's no more elephant......

 

I've said this before in another thread. We could reduce the demand for ivory big time if JAMA & NEJM would publish really convincing looking papers saying that scientific evidence shows a man will become impotent if he so much as touches ivory, & then social media pros saw to it that the news got well spread to Asia.

Ivory that goes to traditional medicine is just gone, completely, forever. There has to be a continual supply of ivory to meet the demand. Unless antique ivory is smashed up to meet it, that means new ivory from dead elephants. Those of us with ivory antiques are just passing around the same old ivory & don't want new ivory.

Also wish there were a way to sell ivory, such as the 2 bracelets my mother bought at one of the many sales held in anticipation of the first ban, & have the proceeds go toward the conservation efforts.

 

One of whom is infertile & the other, for some medical or anatomical reason, unable to carry a pregnancy to term. The hope is to create embryos in vitro & implant in a different species of rhino.

The Yangtze giant soft shell turtle is in a similar situation. There have been unsuccessful attempts at artificial insemination. The complicated anatomy of her reproductive organs & damage to his make it all very challenging.