Featured Napkin rings

From the latest clearance, found in a drawer in the study.
3 silver napkin rings and a Victorian halfcrown brooch.



As a numismatist the coin is ruined as its had a pin soldered to the obverse., but someone will buy it as jewellry in the future.



2 of the napkin rings are sterling silver, Birmingham hallmarks.
They need polishing before more research.



The nouveau style ring is marked 900, it needs polishing before I can read the marks properly but I think it says
V. Mayers & Son and it has a crown and an "A"

It is inscribed 1st 8th August 1943..... M.J.C..... Jerusalem

I believe this to be the 1st division or Corps of the 8th Army tank regiment from the North Africa campaign fighting Rommels Afrika Korps.

The defeat of Rommel in Egypt saved Palestine from the Nazis and saved the Jews from certain death.







I'm wondering if this is a 1920's piece repurposed by a Jewish silversmith for use in the officers mess or a souviner of the campaign.

The top 2 rings weigh 9g and 14g each, the nouveau one although the same size is a whopping 25g.

It might be silver plated 22k gold !

Watch this space.

 

I've not really had time, but wiping the mark with
a cotton bud and ammonia the tarnish is not clearing as easy if it were silver.
I can now see the makers mark as V. Mayer's Söhne; (Vinc. Mayer's Söhne) which I believe is Austrian, Vienna, formed in 1810.

 

V. Mayer's Sons was a jewelery company in Vienna and a former purveyor to the Imperial and Royal Court . It was one of the most important order jewelers in Vienna in the 19th and 20th centuries. The address was Stock-im-Eisen -Platz 7 in the 1st district of Innere Stadt . [1]


history
The jewelry company was founded in 1810. There is no reliable data on the beginnings of the company. After the death of Vincenz Mayer, his three sons Joseph, Vincenz and Franz Mayer took over from 1865 and successfully continued the business and eventually belonged to the first and most famous houses of the monarchy. In addition to jewelry and silverware, medals and decorations such as the Order of the Iron Crown [2] were made for the state, and their achievements in the field of precious metal arts and crafts were significant. In addition to the company CF Rothe & NeffeVincenz Mayer's Sons was one of the few Austrian companies in this field. Due to the quality of their products and their services, the owners were successively appointed kuk court jewelers and later even chamber jewelers of the emperor and empress.

Around 1900 the company owners were treasures - appraisers of the Colonel Court Marshal's Office of the Emperor and suppliers of the chancellery of the Imperial Austrian Order of Franz Joseph . Vincenz Mayer's sons were producers of all classes of this order, especially in gold. [3] Foreign sovereigns and the most distinguished Viennese social circles were among the customers. The company supplied the courts of Serbia , Montenegro , Bulgaria , the Vatican , Persia , the Ottoman Empireand many others. In the shop on Stock-im-Eisen-Platz there was a permanent exhibition of art and consumer goods.

The outbreak of World War I and the collapse of the monarchy brought difficult times for the company. Due to the economic crisis in the post-war years, the company had to close in 1922. [4]

Products

Smaller Franz Joseph order chain
The products from V. Mayer's Söhne almost always have a signature with the initials "VMS" stamped on the bottom, often framed. Vincenz Mayer's Sons' products are still highly traded at auctions today . A small golden gift brooch from Empress Elisabeth of Austria was estimated at an auction in October 2009 in Vienna's Dorotheum for a price of € 600–900. The brooch achieved a price of € 2,750, three to four times more than the estimated price. [5]

 

I'm now dreaming up different scenarios.

Austria became part of Germany.

This item could have come to North Africa by Rommels colleagues and used in an officers mess.

They were defeated by the Desert Rats (7th Armoured Division) and this ring somehow got into the hands of the 8th by way of war booty.

I won't be able to test and clean it until later today.

 

I've still not cleaned it or tested it but I got better shots of the mark.
The first number is worn and I'm unable to say if its an 8 or 9.