Featured Help w/ID Vintage 14K Charm Bracelet

hi everyone. i've had this old charm bracelet for some time now. it's marked 14K and weighs approximately 2.2 oz. finances being as they are, i'm looking to sell it. i know i need to get better pics, but i think for this level of evaluation these will suffice. i'm trying to figure out how old this is--approximately what era it might date from? also, several of the charms are unmarked. there's a cut-out lion coin that may have a small ruby in the eye. does anyone recognize this(no mark). someone in the past advised me to separate the charms and sell them individually. also, this piece is dark. would it be better to clean it before trying to sell it? is there a name for that clasp?

 

A beauty, nice quality bracelet. Yes, I would recommend a nice clean.

I believe you'll get more money that way, as long as you have desirable charms. Most of these charms can also be worn as pendants, and those will sell, I'm sure. But it is up to you if you want to have them taken off and the bails resoldered.
The lion could be a Leo sign, in which case it is better sold separately, both to make the bracelet attractive to a wider public, and to have a beautiful gold and ruby pendant for those born under the sign.
The Celtic cross will also sell as a pendant.

It is a box clasp with a figure eight safety catch.

 

several of the charms are unmarked.

then you can't sell them as 14k gold...which they most likely are.....

but taking them off the bracelet .... and maybe leaving the marked ones on......could be a way to go...?? eh?

 

i know one of the charms, that has a bunch of extremely tiny hallmarks is 9K. the shoe is marked 18K(and probably the secondly heaviest of the charms). i'm kinda' guessing the average is 14K. there's no mark on the phone. the overall scrap value is around $4800 right now. would it be standard to ask $6000 for the whole thing?

 

I think that's high.... but you could always come down.....

someone in the past advised me to separate the charms and sell them individually.

the charms make good gifts...

if I had the bracelet I'd want my own memories on it ....not others !

I think the bracelet might sell faster at a lower cost with no charms..

imho

 

thank you. i always feel bad about dismantling things and parting them out, but this is business and i appreciate the advice. i will definitely consider it.

 

Good Luck !!!

 

& be cautious !!!!

 

My opinion only... Charm bracelets are typically 1940s-1960s. Those aren't terribly interesting charms and they're not of the same scale nor do they share a theme. If it were mine, I'd sell bracelet and individual charms separately. The lion w/ ruby isn't a cut-out coin; it's a horoscope charm. Can't clearly see the telephone which would help date but it does appear to be crudely constructed. The sand dollar might garner interest but may depend on if it's marked. The Celtic cross, especially as it's marked, would surely get interest on eBay, for instance. Ditto the St. Joseph medal. And is that a wooden shoe? Undamaged? The atomic starbursts make me think 1950s. Not sure significance. The bracelet itself looks 1960s. As above, clean it. My opinion only...

Debora

 

that dating coincides with the story behind this bracelet. i would have guessed 30s or 40s. many of the marks on these pieces are extremely small. i own a jewelers loop, and i can't make them out when i look through that. that is a wooden shoe. and it's marked 18K, with, again, a mark i can not make out through a loop.

 

can ya close up photo them????????

 

What story behind the bracelet. Did you forget to tell us something?!

Debora

 

I'm pretty much with everyone else. This was not a pre-assembled charm bracelet, as some are. The charms were acquired & added individually over time for their meaning to the wearer. Collectively they are not going to have enough special appeal for someone to pay more than melt value for them in order to have the bracelet intact. And as you already know, the fineness of the bracelet does not guarantee anything for the fineness of the charms. Anything not marked would need to be tested.

Definitely think the individual charms have potential to sell for more than melt value, either as pendants or to someone who collects novelty charms, like the telephone. There are so many more out there in silver; gold may have its own market. The jump rings attaching the charms to the chain may have been soldered shut for safety.

The chain bracelet looks like a very nice one that even some men might wear, except I imagine it is sized for a woman. About 7.5 inches? You would need to check out the secondary (i.e., resale) market for similars that have sold to know whether it is likely to sell for more than melt.

I don't think there's anything that would add/subtract value in knowing when exactly the bracelet & charms were acquired. It's more about what's going on now.

 

no, my old digital camera would have been great, but i've never been able to get great close ups out of my new on.

 

no, it's just a personal story. a former girlfriend gave me this as collateral when i lent her some money after she left. i know this was something that was important to her. i've given her more than a reasonable amount of time to buy it back. her great-aunt gave it to her as a gift years ago. that's why i was curious about the age. believe me, she cost me a lot more than the amount i'm going to get out of this bracelet. i've got a bunch of scrap sterling i'm putting together too. business is terrible these days. selling this will help.

 

It would have been helpful for us to know in your initial post that it belonged to a friend's great-aunt and her (approximate) age. Her place of residence too, if you knew it.

Debora

 

It is a St. Christopher medal (not Joseph). Christopher was a patron saint of travelers, and there was a medieval legend that if a person looked at an image of Christopher, s/he would die only in a state of grace (having made confession & received absolution) that day. (Popularly it became shortened to "would not die that day.") Christopher carrying the Christ Child refers to the legend that he carried the Christ Child across a river, with the child growing heavier & heavier (carrying the weight of the sins of the world). In 1969, the Vatican removed Christopher's feast day (along with many others) from the liturgical calendar for lack of historical evidence of their existence. These redacted saints were often the most popular and the most frequently depicted saints, whose legendary lives were told in the Golden Legend. But people still wear St. Christopher medals, so you can sell that separately.

 

Of course. I knew that. Don't know where Joseph came from. Oh, I do... Our local hospital. Duh.

Debora

 

i don't know anything about her. i think she was deceased.

i wouldn't be able to answer any of those questions. i think she was deceased. which would make the 30s or 40s likely. that's about as much as i could tell you.

 

The 30s or 40s likely for what? Her age? The decades in which she might have died? Or era of the charm bracelet?

Debora