Featured Hallmarks gone- anyone can help?

Dear all friends here, this is the Norwegian coming back for more advice- even though i try not to drown you with my many questions (I have many!) - but i need your help again here.

First of all, I have this ring, that i dont know if i like or dislike, really, but i think that anything that have survived for so long deserve to be taken care of. As you can see from the photos, the hallmark is not at all possible to read, so the ring must be well used. I am not at all sure if the box is original, so i would not count on that to give me any clue, but with the hallmarks gone, can anyone help me say something about this ring? Is it worth a few bob, or should it just go into my "treasure chest" for my grandchildren?

And then to the 2nd question; this phrase "costume jewelry" - versus "real jewelry" - can anyone give an amateur like me a crash course in what the difference is here? I see many nice silver items being called costume jewelry, like somthing 2nd or 3rd rated, even though it may be some of the finest examples that the maker have done in their time. Is it just a distinction between very expensive and cheaper jewelry or can aynone explain this to an ignorant Norwegian?

Two questions in one post here, but i do hope to build on my knowledge base here, both on the ring and the rest!

 

Looks like "800" marked with a graver and not stamped.

 

Good evening, Torkel.
It has a worn 800 mark, and my guess is it is German, coral and .800 silver. Probably Jugendstil.
Germany has no assay system, so no hallmarks. Manufacturers mark their own precious metals.
The box is not original, the ring is not English marked, and of a slightly earlier date.

Torkel, are you familiar with the German term Modeschmuck? That is what costume jewellery is, fashion jewellery made with base materials.

 

You are the best, I want to bring you to Norway to teach me at least a fraction of your vast knowledge, i am very impressed always with you! One comment though, silver is considered a base material then, but not gold...? So almost any jewelry made with silver as base would be considered costume jewelry?

 

Silver is considered a precious metal............. https://www.911metallurgist.com/blog/the-worlds-10-most-precious-metals

 

Oh, Torkel.

The precious metals which are used most in jewellery are silver, gold and platinum. There are some others, but you don't come across those that often.

 

Oh no!
Once, during WW2, "costume" jewelry was made of silver, because ordinary metals had strategical use. Hence the confusion, I think.

That's it

 

Most silver jewelry commercially made in the USA has been rhodium plated since the late 1970's.

 

Hello, Torkel. When I looked at your photos, I was ready to tell you it is 800 silver & stone looks like coral, but a couple of our top experts (it just became three) have already told you that & more.

In my experience, & to my mind, the line between costume/fashion jewellery and fine jewellery is not completely clear, and I think of things on the border as 'good' costume (my mother's sterling & rhinestone bracelet) or near costume quality fine (e.g., a 9ct ring with a small amethyst in it). At the far ends of the spectrum, there is a correspondence with price. In the middle, jewellery made with no precious metal or stones but marked as designed by someone like Hattie Carnegie can sell for much more than my imaginary gold & amethyst ring.

Your ring is 800 silver, not 925 sterling, & a coral cabochon like that would not have sold for much when the ring was new. In my personal categorization scheme, this would be 'good costume' quality.

 

Thanks for this great explanation - it is very usefull!

 

It is easier in Dutch, we have:
'modesieraden' = costume jewellery,
'sieraden' = lower end of the scale fine jewellery, including most silver and some gold jewellery,
'juwelen' = higher end fine jewellery, which includes most gold and all platinum and palladium jewellery.

To confuse matters, kostuumsieraden, which sounds like it could be costume jewellery, is one of the Dutch terms for regional jewellery, to be worn with the regional costume.

 

We need some similar designation for so much Native American jewellery made with silver, turquoise/coral/MOP, etc. Some reaches the level of fine jewellery, IMO, but often in that middle region.

 

The relatively recent term for the middle tier here in the US is "bridge jewelry", since it bridges the gap between costume and "fine". All gold here lands in the "fine" category, but sterling is either "fine" or "bridge".

 

I doubt the box has anything to do with the ring.

 

Odds are they're a marriage, probably one of convenience.