Featured Jewelry Fix Obtained! Sparklies, More Rubies, Unknown stones, gem tester help!

Discussion in 'Jewelry' started by RachelW, Jul 28, 2024.

  1. RachelW

    RachelW Well-Known Member

    Finally got my jewelry fix today! It was a massive vide grenier about an hour away, we ended up getting out of the house at 10:30am and not getting back until almost 6pm. Not pictured here is a 925 and enamel koi fish ring and an 18k gold chain I snagged from a stash of costume for 1 euro. All of these below and the fish came from one jewelry dealer, for the princely sum of 25 euros. A splurge I know! :hilarious:

    First up, the birdy:
    950 silver, inlaid with stones and mop. More nicely done than this photo suggests! Tiny scrape on one of the mop feathers but otherwise fine. Google lens says hummingbird, with various sources saying Peru, Zuni, or Mexico. Can we tell which one it is? Peru's examples look the most similar to me.

    IMG_20240728_201201.jpg

    Please note the stones aren't cracked, don't know why it looks that way in the photos!
    IMG_20240728_201208.jpg IMG_20240728_201215.jpg

    This ring is AWESOME. Pulled it out of their costume box, but tests as silver. I think the dealer goes through so much jewelry that if its not marked its home is the costume box. Unsure about the stones on this one.

    IMG_20240728_201304.jpg IMG_20240728_201311.jpg IMG_20240728_201340.jpg


    And my piece(s) de resistance, an Art Deco (?) demi parure (?) of earrings and pendant. Marked 925, but it looks wierd. The front is gilt. The red stones test as rubies definitely, the rest are more ambiguous. Google lens says Turkish?

    IMG_20240728_201411.jpg IMG_20240728_201432.jpg IMG_20240728_201447.jpg IMG_20240728_201459.jpg


    STONIES/GEMSTERS look below:


    I was able to really get my new gem tester out and about on all the stones. I've tried to do some research but I have zero gem knowledge. So far:
    Demi Parure: Rubies, emeralds or tourmaline, Maxixe-type beryl or tanzenite, and I guess quartz?
    Ring: Possibly garnet? No idea on the other two.
    Pendant: Lapis, MOP, ??
    Its been a very long day (hot hot and sun and walking on 2.5 hours sleep) and all these would need resizing to post here, so please forgive me posting these as a google drive folder link. For those who don't usually like links, its one of my private folders and isnt hosted on any sort of website.

    Thank you all for your help! I'm super interested to know more about these pieces and the gems/stones particularly. After the 17th century box finds I'm really interested in rocks! :hilarious:
     
  2. Any Jewelry

    Any Jewelry Well-Known Member

    Love the birdie.:happy:
    Yes, it is silver. From India, probably Jaipur
    Google lens is right, these are recent Turkish pieces, Ottoman style. They are usually sterling with brass.
    The green looks like peridot, and the pink looks like tourmaline, an Indian favourite. (To be honest, many stones are Indian favourites.:playful:)
     
    Last edited: Jul 28, 2024
  3. Any Jewelry

    Any Jewelry Well-Known Member

    Wait, I just saw your test result on the green stone. Only 5?:jawdrop: Maybe apatite?
     
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  4. RachelW

    RachelW Well-Known Member

    Thank you AJ! Dang on the 'recent' verdict, I was hoping they were older. At least they have the intrinsic value to hold on to!

    YES thank you for those as well, I did look into different stones before dinner and came up with those but forgot about them when I wrote this.

    That does look similar!
     
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  5. evelyb30

    evelyb30 Well-Known Member

    The snap backs on the Turkish earrings look like the ones on a Soviet set I found (my cousin called dibs already) but this ain't that. I do wonder who came up with the idea first.
     
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  6. Any Jewelry

    Any Jewelry Well-Known Member

    Such as it is.:sorry::bag: Turkey has flooded the market with Ottoman style jewellery. Very pretty, but also very cheap.

    (Bearer of bad news, not Art Deco and cheap as well.:nailbiting: I'll go and hide now....)
     
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  7. Any Jewelry

    Any Jewelry Well-Known Member

    Those are European leverbacks, used mostly in W and S Continental Europe. They are the more comfortable reverse of those awkward back to front leverbacks that became fashionable in W Continental Europe ca 1900.
    I don't know who came up with the excellent idea to reverse those, but I suspect either Germany or France. Germans tend to be more practical, so it could be one of the Pforzheim makers.
    Leverbacks are my favourite earhook type. Easy to put in and secure.

    Russian earrings typically have earhooks with a hinged triangular closure. Traditional Turkish earrings have those generic shepherd crook earhooks.
    The use of leverbacks in either country is not traditional, so probably a fairly recent development. I have late Soviet era earrings that still have hinged triangular closures.
     
    Last edited: Jul 29, 2024
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  8. RachelW

    RachelW Well-Known Member

    Ah :drowning: Well the more you know! I'm not sure where to research the gem spectrum for my tester. I keep trying to look up guides but I don't see anything comprehensive. Is there a book I need to get?
     
  9. Any Jewelry

    Any Jewelry Well-Known Member

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  10. RachelW

    RachelW Well-Known Member

    Thank you!! I was looking for thermal spectrums, but if you're suggesting this it means that both will work with my tester?
     
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