Archive for Silver
How to clean silver
Posted by: | CommentsWant a quick and easy way to clean your silver or silver jewellery? Ive made a little video showing how this can be done with kitchen foil and soda.
The foil lines a glass bowl and I then place the silver to be cleaned inside. I add hot water and then a shake of bicarbonate of soda. Wait a minute or two for best results. Discard the liquid , probably best to rinse the silver under a cold tap next and then polish with a soft cloth. Cheap, easy and quick 
Notes:
This is particularly great for cleaning fiddly little silver jewellery which is difficult with silver polish , I like to clean vintage charms this way
Dont leave the silver in the soda too long if you want to keep a vintage look, test every few seconds or you will get silver that looks new
Only clean silver like this, do not attempt if there are any other materials on the jewellery such as crystals, gemstones , pearls, enamels.
I suppose I should have been wearing protective gloves to do this – please ensure that you do.
What is 800 silver jewellery?
Posted by: | CommentsVintage jewellery buyers sometimes come across pieces of jewellery with the number 800 stamped in the back, just like this pair of Vintage cuff links:
The 800 stands for 800 grade silver or 800 parts of silver per 1000 parts. This standard of silver has been heavily throughout Europe including France, Belgium and Germany for many years. Any vintage jewellery stamped 800 may well be European in origin although other factors may indicate an Eastern or Asian origin . It is most unlikely that an 800 grade silver piece is British in origin as this grade of silver was not recognised until 1999.
This Antique brooch is made of 800 grade silver which has been engine turned and enameled in blue
A very attractive little antique brooch made of 800 silver ( stamped 800 on the reverse) and enameled in a wonderful Royal Blue colour. This brooch is in the form of a buckle. It dates from the early 190os. This piece of antique jewellery measures about 2.1 cms long
Vintage Silver Jewellery
Posted by: | CommentsLooking for some vintage jewellery to go with your summer outfit? Silver looks good in the sun and because its cheaper than gold you can afford something much chunkier.
Some lovely pieces of vintage silver jewellery can be found from the 1970s which goes great with boho and rock chick fashions.
How about a silver bangle ? You can wear more than one at the same time – either one on each wrist or several on one wrist. This bangle is a cuff type silver bangle and is super stylish
silver bangle
A wonderful Modernist Silver Cuff type Bangle. This bangle is made of sterling silver and is fully hallmarked. It measures about 4 cms wide and can be adjusted slightly depending upon the size of your write although I would recommend this for a medium size wrist. This is quite a chunky piece of jewellery weighing about 50 grams
To go with the silver bangle a silver Torque . A Torque is a type of necklace made from a solid piece of metal rather than a chain. This type of necklace has been popular since Celtic times when they were worn as the sign of a chieftain or war lord.
Silver Torque
A beautiful silver torque necklace with a hammered effect finish. This necklace is made of sterling silver You could hang a pendant from the lower loop if you wish or wear this stylish piece of jewellery on its own. The necklace is 4mm wide and is suitable for a medium sized neck
Vintage silver rings. What a wide variety there are available. You can have a plain silver ring or one set with a semi-precious stone such as rose quartz or marcasites.
What pretty pieces these are and sure to be admired wherever you go. These pieces of vintage silver jewellery would also make an excellent gift for someone with a summer birthday.
Silver vintage jewellery
Posted by: | CommentsVintage silver jewellery is becoming increasingly sought after. As the price of gold rises it is making the cost of heavier pieces of gold jewellery rise too and become too expensive for every day wear for many of us.
Silver jewellery wears well and as it ages it acquires a lovely soft patina as long as it is not over polished. Here are a few pieces of vintage silver jewellery available on antiquesavenue during March 2010.
Vintage silver Jewellery
1970s silver bracelet hallmarked 1976
A very stylish silver bracelet which is fully hallmarked and can be dated to 1976. The bracelet measures about 20 cms long and is about 14mm wide. In excellent condition this weighs about35 grams
Vintage Silver Jewellery
Vintage silver jewellery gate necklace bracelet 1960s
This vintage jewellery set consists of a matching necklace and bracelet. These are both made of fully hallmarked silver and can be dated to 1966. The bracelets with this gate effect are quite popular and it is quite rare to find a matching necklace and bracelet set. The bracelet fastens with a heart shaped padlock
Material: Silver .925 sterling ( Fully hallmarked) Size: 1 cm wide. Bracelet is 18.5 cms long. Necklace 40 cms long Age: 1966 Condition: Excellent Maker, Designer, Origin: JAM
Vintage brooch in silver
vintage brooch enamel silver orchid marcasites
What a pretty brooch dating from circa 1950s. This flower brooch is enameled and set with marcasites. This brooch is made of silver and measures about 5 cms long This vintage brooch is in excellent
Silver Charm Bracelet
Silver charm bracelet
This silver charm bracelet comes complete with sixteen charms attached. The silver charms are:
Dwarf, Shakespears head, horse drawn cart
gondola, pixie, round tower
bull fighter, stork, windmill,
cottage, harp, spinning wheel
dog, building on bridge,
stag,
The silver bracelet measures about 18.5 cms long, has an attached safety chain and fastens with a roll over catch. This silver charm bracelet measures about 53 grams
Victorian silver Brooches
Posted by: | CommentsVictorian Silver Brooches.
Over a year ago I wrote a little about how special Victorian brooches are as they are wearable as well as being antique. Today I am going to take a look at a few Victorian silver brooches. Silver brooches were very popular during the Victorian ear, silver was cheap compared with gold and much more workable that other metals available at the time. The range of silver brooches the Victorians made was huge , the included name brooches, Mizpah brooches, mourning brooches, Scottish brooches, Sentimental or Sweetheart brooches. A few more are religious silver brooches, good luck and friendship brooches and commemorative for large events such as Royal Jubilees.
Victorian silver brooches can be purchased from around £25 to about £140 . It is unusual for silver brooches of the Victorian era to be by named designers and also rare for them to be set with precious jewels and so although some exceptional brooches can be found they are rarely priced over this level unless set with a particularly well carved cameo (for example).
Here are a few collectable Victorian silver brooches for you to look at:
Antique Brooch hand painted porcelain bird of paradise
A genuine antique brooch set with a porcelain plaque which has been hand painted with a bird of paradise. This brooch is set into a silver frame ( tested not hallmarked) and has an attached safety chain. I have checked the painting under a magnifying glass and can confirm that the picture is hand painted .
Antique brooch Victorian name Fanny
This antique brooch dates from the Victorian era when name brooches like this were popular. Made of silver “Fanny” is entwined with leaves/ This is an unusually large antique name brooch being 6.4 cms long. As with most brooches of the Victorian era, this fastens with a simple C catch
Where do you find Victorian silver brooches?
As with any sort of vintage or antique jewellery , I suggest you have a look over at www.antiquesavenue.co.uk for your Victorian Brooch. eBay is another source of antique brooches but please do make sure that you check what you are buying and the seller to ensure that you have the genuine item and are not being sold a much newer copy. If you have the time you can take a wander around your local antique fair or antique center too.
How to care for victorian silver brooches
Silver is quite robust, after all your Victorian brooch is over a 100 years old and it will still be around in a hundred years time if you take good care of it. Check the condition of the hinge and catch before wearing the brooch. The catches were a simple C shape which comes undone much more easily than today’s safety catches. Possible a safety chain has been added to the brooch, if not you could consider adding one if it is done with care.
I suggest that you keep your silver reasonably clean without over polishing it. A light and careful clean after wearing will help to keep the salts from your fingers fro attacking the silver. Use a soft dry cloth to polish the silver rather than harsh chemicals. Perhaps a occasional wash under the tap if you have spilt perfume or make up onto the brooch but never use a washing up liquid with lemon in it as citrus attacks silver.
Dont just throw your Victorian silver brooches into a jewellery box with all your other pieces of jewellery as they can easily damage each other . You could wrap each brooch individually in a piece of Acid free tissue paper or pin them to cushions to display them.
Vintage silver Jewellery
Posted by: | CommentsThe featured vintage jewellery at antiquesavenue this week is all made of silver. Silver has long been a favourite material to make jewellery from as it it takes a shape well, is quite durable and looks good when it is being worn. Silver was used widely throughout the Victorian and Edwardian eras. You can find vintage jewellery made of silver in the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, the modernist eras and right up to new silver jewellery of today.
Later this week I will be taking a look at silver as a material and how to care for silver and how you can date it from its hallmarks.
Here are a few pieces as featured in my vintage jewellery shop this week:
Vintage bracelets made by Coro
This piece of vintage Jewellery was made by Coro – the link bar is impressed “Ster Coro”. There are 5 individual bangles joined by this cross bar. They measure 6.5 cms diameter. This is most likely from the 1970s when coro started to make their own silver jewellery.
silver bracelet
Vintage necklace Scandinavian Silver Ivar Holt Norway
A great vintage necklace made of silver by Ivar Holt in Norway. Scandinavian silver jewellery such as this is most sought after and collectable. The Ivar Holt makers H logo is impressed into the reverse and this vintage necklace is also impressed as sterling silver.
It is made of 11 links and measures 39 cms long when fastened. This Scandinavian silver necklace measures about 2 cms wide and weighs around 50 grams
silver necklace
antique silver locket Victorian hallmarked 1880s
An antique silver locket which is fully hallmarked for 1883. This locket has Victorian aesthetic decoration which is typical of the time it was made. This antique silver locket opens and there is space for your own photographs or a small momento.
The locket comes on a silver chain which is much newer than the locket itself
silver locket
Vintage silver jewellery for men
It was not just ladies that wore silver jewellery. You can find vintage jewellery for men too. Look out for silver Albert watch chains and fobs which are sought after as accessories for mens evening wear – they look so smart with a waistcoat. There are also tie pins made from silver available and of course made different designs of cufflinks too.
Victorian antique silver – apostle handle sugar sifter
Posted by: | CommentsThe rich Victorians loved to have an array of specialist cutlery at the tables of their large banquets and developed a piece for every possible use: Salt spoons, Caddy spoons, butter knives, cheese knives, fish knives, ladles, scoops and picks. Here’s a pretty piece of Victorian silver I thought you would like to see:
Victorian sugar sifter
This is a sugar sifter spoon – made so that you can add a delicate sprinkling of caster or powdered sugar to your desert. This special collectible spoon has a pierced bowl and an Apostle finial to the handle. It is fully hallmarked for Birmingham 1897. It measures about 9.5 cms long and weighs about 8 grams
So what is an Apostle spoon? According to Wikipedia these are:
An apostle spoon is a spoon (usually silver or silver-plated, but sometimes of other metals, such as pewter) with an image of an apostle or other Christian religious figure as the termination of the handle, each bearing his distinctive emblem.
Originating in early-fifteenth century Europe as spoons used at table (often produced in sets of thirteen), by the sixteenth century they had become popular as baptismal presents for god-children, but were dying out by 1666. In some communities this tradition continued until at least the mid-twentieth century. Shakespeare refers to it in Henry VIII, Act 5, Scene 3, where Cranmer declines to be sponsor for the infant Elizabeth because of his lack of money. King Henry banters him with “Come, come, my lord, you’d spare your spoons.”
Sets of the twelve apostles are not common, and complete sets of thirteen, with the figure of Jesus on a larger spoon, are still rarer.
Want to own this silver sugar sifter – I am currently offering it for sale on eBay. 23/12/ 08 Update sorry this is now sold
What am I? unusual antique identification
Posted by: | Comments
What am I?
Here is this weeks What am I? Do you know what these are? These special type of scissors have gone completely out of fashion these days but were regularly seen in fashionable Victorian and Edwardian households. You can also see them at banquets and in the poshest restaurants.
Very collectable these days – especially in their original boxes and when they have a full set of Victorian Silver hallmarks:
Grape Scissors
Grape scissors can be identified by their rounded tip and the handles being angled away from the blades.
This particular pair of Grape Scissors are fully hallmarked for London 1897 and have the makers mark “GJDF”. I believe that this makers mark is for: George Maudsley Jackson and David Landsborough Fullerton of Josiah Williams & Company a high quality and sought after silversmith.
Here are the hallmarks for those interested:
Hallmarks on Grape Scissors
