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<p>[QUOTE="springfld.arsenal, post: 68093, member: 54"]In addition to the usual things most of us look at to establish the age of an item, I look pretty hard at how I think it was made. Over time, with continuously increasing wages, traditional methods become too expensive for all but very expensive jewelry, Rolls Royce autos, etc.</p><p><br /></p><p>If these rings were vintage items, I'd expect to see a one-piece lost-wax casting, with appropriate chasing, polishing etc. to finish it, assuming it is silver.</p><p><br /></p><p>Looking closely at magnified photos of this ring you can see it was made from either 3 or 4 pieces. The "openwork" or pierced cylinder, the plain cylindrical body, and either one or two thin rings forming the end-flanges are those separate parts which were then assembled and presumably glued somehow, or pressed together tightly. This strikes me as quite a clever, modern production method aimed at saving time and money.</p><p><br /></p><p>Zoom in on the first photo to see how the top ring is slightly skewed so you see the ring below the body in the right foreground. At the bottom you can clearly see how the openwork piece is separate from the thin ring.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="springfld.arsenal, post: 68093, member: 54"]In addition to the usual things most of us look at to establish the age of an item, I look pretty hard at how I think it was made. Over time, with continuously increasing wages, traditional methods become too expensive for all but very expensive jewelry, Rolls Royce autos, etc. If these rings were vintage items, I'd expect to see a one-piece lost-wax casting, with appropriate chasing, polishing etc. to finish it, assuming it is silver. Looking closely at magnified photos of this ring you can see it was made from either 3 or 4 pieces. The "openwork" or pierced cylinder, the plain cylindrical body, and either one or two thin rings forming the end-flanges are those separate parts which were then assembled and presumably glued somehow, or pressed together tightly. This strikes me as quite a clever, modern production method aimed at saving time and money. Zoom in on the first photo to see how the top ring is slightly skewed so you see the ring below the body in the right foreground. At the bottom you can clearly see how the openwork piece is separate from the thin ring.[/QUOTE]
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