Help with an old jewelry mark

I agree, it is rather unassuming.
I wonder if it is rhodium plated silver? As far as I know, rhodium survives an 18k gold acid test. Rhodium plating is so thin that the necklace is unlikely to be magnetic even if it is rhodium plated.

 

I agree, questioning if the test came out right. I hope I'm wrong as would be great to have that much gold. Maybe re-do the test, could be some kind of coating as suggested. I'd expect much higher quality workmanship for 18K, this looks a bit like stamped metal. But sometimes photos are deceiving. Good luck!

 

I don’t believe that is is gold, I think it is platinum due to it being excessively heavy and holding up to 18k acid. I will likely pick up some 22k and platinum acid tomorrow and finally be certain. 22k acid will eliminate the possibility of stainless steel, but this is heavier than stainless would be.

It is definitely not silver, for multiple reasons

Deciphering the markings are critical to me, as purity, origin and vintage cannot be determined by a platinum acid test.

thanks for everyone’s input. Still hoping someone recognizes the worn marks

 

Additional photos. Including one showing 18k acid scratch test with 10 minutes of acid treatment on the stone.

 

That still doesn't rule out rhodium plated silver. As I said, as far as I know rhodium stands the test of 18k gold acid. It protects the silver.

You do realise that many makers marks are never identified? There are tens of thousand of gold/silversmiths and manufacturers at any given time. Many are only in business for a short period. The necklace has no hallmarks, so no way to narrow down the search.
Knowing who made it is not proof of the kind of metal or its fineness. For that it is best to have it tested by a good jeweller.

As for vintage, I have given you the period when these designs were made.
I would enjoy the necklace, rather than try and find a maker who may prove impossible to find.

 

What rules out silver is the weight of the piece. If you could hold it, you would eliminated silver immediately.

It’s not the makers mark that I want to learn, but that could indicate era. Yes, you provided a guess, and thank you for that. I’m researching purity marks to try and find one that matches. There are many variations through the years, across the globe prior to standardization.

I’m taking it to the antiques market tomorrow to shop it around to the jewelers. I’m literally swimming in a sea of sharks. If I don’t know what I have ahead of time, I cannot control the negotiations. I can already hear half of them..... “It’s stainless, I’ll give you $100”. It’s 800 silver, $40”. “It’s pewter, but I’ll pay $10 more than what the last guy offered”

 

If I thought it could be platinum I certainly wouldn’t sell it before having it professionally evaluated. Be interesting to see what they say though.

 

This is a mark that consists of three characters or symbols. That means it isn't a Western purity mark, so you can rule any Western country out.

And I thank you for being condescending.
Your 'guess' is my experience, having lived at the time and seen countless similar designs.

There is still no standardization in fineness marking. No guess, anyone who knows about precious metals can tell you that.
For instance, these are current UK (London) sterling marks:



and these are the current Dutch fineness marks:

 

Sigh.....Well my apologies, not intending to be condescending. Your guess is based on your experience and I respect that, but it’s still an informed guess. I understand it’s difficult to accurately gauge vintage even when holding the piece. I’ve been doing this for quite some time as well. I’m not discounting your age estimate, as all opinions shed some light on this mystery

Standardization is not universal, I am aware of that. And I am well versed in silver marks, I enjoy the European marks and all that you can learn from them. By “standardization” I mean hallmarking standards that most exporting countries adhere to, those which do not already have a robust system such as the Brits.

In this case, a relatively modern piece of platinum would typically be marked PLAT, PT or it’s numerical purity. However this piece has symbols which are very worn and clearly are not “standardized” markings as described.

thanks for everyone’s opinions, or expertise

 

If that is your attitude, I will leave you to it.

 

Good times ‘round the campfire

 

Solved. It is Platinum of Middle Eastern origin, possibly Iran. It now has a new temporary owner