 Antique jewelry question: Mystery bracelet?
have a fairly heavy, dramatic bracelet that is maybe Victorian, looks old. It probably dates from before 1900, at least.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie…
I took a magnifying glass to it, and I don't see that it is marked in any way. But, assuming it is old, if it's American, it might not be marked, regardless.
The original clasp was probably where any marks were, if there were any to begin with. The fold-over Deco clasp I would guess is a replacement and looks plated.
It appears to be a Renaissance/Gothic Revival bookchain panel bracelet. The panels are on a backing of mesh that looks tarnished/sterling, as well.
The tarnish can be removed with silver polish, I found. I lightly polished just the high spots, not into the detail. The piece has the patina and look of sterling, rather than plate, to me. Sometimes plate looks too shiny.
I determined that:
it doesn't smell coppery/stinky, at least not to me.
It isn't attracted to a magnet.
It has scratches here and there, but I don't see anywhere copper is showing through. So, if it's plate, it's not copper underneath.
I do see where the panels appear to be in two layers or two pieces, one atop the other, sort of melted together.
You can see some little mold tags or bumps in a couple of places, where the excess from the mold wasn't quite filed away.
It weighs 60.8 grams.
Is there any test or some way to tell whether it is plated or solid?
How would you test the density? Is there a way to figure density by the weight and how much water it displaces?
Thank you!
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