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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Shangas, post: 437049, member: 360&quot;]&quot;Pinchbeck&quot; is the name given to a type of high-gloss/high-polished glittering gold-coloured alloy of copper and zinc. </p><p><br /></p><p>Basically it&#039;s brass. Very very shiny, specially-formulated brass. I believe it had a higher zinc content than normal, so as to give it a brighter shine and to prevent tarnishing (it&#039;s the copper content in brass that makes it tarnish).</p><p><br /></p><p>It was invented in the 1700s by Christopher Pinchbeck, as a cheaper imitation of gold (at the time, the only gold purity available was 18k, which is obviously bloody expensive). </p><p><br /></p><p>Pinchbeck has no hallmarks though, obviously. So if it looks like gold and hallmarks it don&#039;t have, then it&#039;s probably brass. And if it&#039;s as old as the Georgian era or early Victorian era, then it&#039;s most likely pinchbeck brass. Or at least that&#039;s what my research tells me. </p><p><br /></p><p>You have a lovely example there, also likely made of pinchbeck. I&#039;ve started wearing my silver glass on a silver watch chain, and my pinchbeck one on a brass, gold-filled watch-chain.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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