My lucky day!

Finished work early so went for a little check round some charity shops.
Would love to know what you think about these 3 bits. After the Brutalist and MCM post I picked up the wrapped silver one and the brass one as they looked interesting. At only £1.99 each worth a punt!
The silver one amazingly tests for silver everywhere although I can’t find a stamp anywhere. The stone/glass is a deep slightly orange/ red.
The brassy one is odd- the clasp and above the links is like gilding, below is brassy but much more shiny on the front. The stone is a very deep red I think but tricky to know as the light doesn’t shine through it. 100 is handwritten scratched on the back.
The last silver chain was a real surprise at £2 the watch chain is fully hallmarked and 925 and the pendant marked 925 and CMEO( Any ideas on that?)
The stones test as diamond but I’m not convinced my little cheapy tester can differentiate between genuine diamonds and Moissanite. No age to chain or pendant I don’t think.
I’d love to know your thoughts of era and origins as always

 

The top photo has reticulated silver with maybe carnelian.

Middle photo someone was playing with a wax pin and maybe a garnet.

Bottom photo the mark is CME with copyright sign.

 

Thankyou Holly Blue, I've just learnt about Reticulated silver. I'd never heard of that before.
When you say playing with a wax pin what does that entail?. Googled but still not clear.
No wonder I couldn't find CMEO. I can clearly see it is a copyright sign now it's been pointed out!

 

I meant a wax gun...a wax pen is for carving.
https://www.riogrande.com/content/matt-wax-gun-for-jewelry-design-designing-on-water-vid-jpg

 

Shed work on the first two for almost certain; I've seen similar in the United States too. The last one is Chinese sterling and CZ, best bet. It looks like you've got more than six quid in melt there, so you definitely scored!

 

Shed work- as in people making Jewellery and experimenting at home?
I bought the first two as they interested me, I didn't think for one moment it was any sort of silver so that was a bonus.The stones are rather nice too which doesn't show in the photos.
The heart pendant I suspected was silver and will probably scrap as it's a bit battered. My tester doesn't react to CZ but it goes red on these so not sure if they have any value
Is Chinese Sterling 925 the same as UK 925 or a bit dodgy?

 

The watch chain looks to have a genuine hallmark on it. (The maker, scales and the 925 and a date letter). The pendant looks dodgier but it tests to have silver content.

 

Someone in a shed? It could have been made by a student,hobbyist,etc. as it is unmarked.That doesn't mean it is cheap,even small pieces of reticulated silver can be somewhat expensive. Making reticulated silver is not an easy process ,it is easier with 800 silver than 925.
https://www.stephanieritchie.com/products/reticulated-cushion-pendant-w-14k-accents

https://www.google.com/search?q=ret...zIMKHeORCZcQ_AUIDygC&biw=1536&bih=872#imgrc=_

 

Wow, they aren't cheap are they. Don't think I'll scrap that piece just yet!.
Shame people don't mark their stuff. It's so much more interesting when you know who's made it.
I wonder, does the UK still Assay and mark silver as 800 or only 925 now?

 

So if the decoration part that is wrapped round is reticulated silver, would the necklace and clasp likely be too? Or does all reticulated silver have the textured look?

 

Reticulated is the process and the textured end product,I really can't see the necklace closeup it could be commercially made.

 

Very nice, KSW.

It is a marriage, the pendant was put on later.
The scales mark is probably the mark of the International Hallmarking Convention which dates from 1972, but was enforced in 1975.

 

We never assayed 800 as silver. Yes, that's the Common Control mark - the scales.

 

So if something is stamped 800 in years gone by it was done by the maker?. Sorry, ignorant question here- does the maker stamp the 925 or an Assay office?. How do they know each piece in a batch is up to 925 standard, is everything tested or random dip?!

 

If it's 800, it isn't and wasn't British.

The way our assay offices work is that you must conform to the content and hallmark rules. So, minimum for silver is 925, which is sterling silver. There is also Britannia silver which is 950. The assay office tests everything, not just a sample, which is why it costs. A maker registers their maker's mark with the assay office, and sends their stuff to be tested and hallmarked, which will include the maker's mark.

 

Thankyou for the information
Ah ok, so any of the older pieces marked 800 are foreign.
So why does so much now not have anything on it except 925?, no makers mark etc. Is that just smaller items?

 

The 925 pieces are imported, and strictly speaking, not legal to sell. But they get away with it because the amount of silver is low or they advertise them as 925. Basically, anything without a proper hallmark, MAY not be British. The exception is small bits and older bits.

Anything marked 800, 850, 900 or whatever isn't ours, no matter how old.

 

The 900 bits can be American if they're old but generally lower grades of silver weren't marked, or had something like "Coin". Lots of things made in the far east for export just have the silver percentage marked, although the Thai makers will include marks if they're making things for sale in the US. The Indians don't always, and a lot of Indonesian work still isn't marked at all.