Featured Help Identifying a Repeated Maker’s Mark on a Gold and Turquoise Bracelet

Hello everyone,

I’m hoping someone here can help me identify the maker’s mark and possible country of origin of a family heirloom bracelet.

The bracelet is yellow gold with a grape-and-vine openwork design and turquoise cabochons. It weighs 22.87 grams and has three clearly stamped 750 marks, indicating 18-karat gold if authentic.

What I’m most interested in is a separate symbol or group of characters stamped repeatedly on the bracelet. As you can see in the attached close-up photos, the same mark appears in several places. Some impressions are partly interrupted by the openwork cutouts, but others are quite clear.

The mark doesn’t look like a typical Latin-letter hallmark to me. It almost looks like a script or stylized symbol, and I’m wondering whether it could be associated with Armenian, Persian/Iranian, or another Middle Eastern jewelry maker—or possibly a European maker.

For family background, my mother was born in Japan in 1941 and moved to the United States in the early 1970s. I believe she may have given the bracelet to my paternal grandmother, who was Armenian and had lived in Iran before coming to the United States after World War II. Unfortunately, I don’t know where or when the bracelet was originally purchased.

I’m researching its history and would love to identify the mark, maker, or approximate period of manufacture. I’m not looking to sell the bracelet; I simply want to understand what I have and learn more about its history.

Has anyone seen this particular mark before, or can you recommend a reference catalogue that might help identify it?

Thank you for any insight!

 

A beautiful heirloom.
The script with those upright/vertical letters looks Armenian to me, but I don't read Armenian myself, so I couldn't tell you what it says. Maybe your paternal grandmother's name?

The turquoises are Persian turquoise, and many goldsmiths in Iran were Armenian. Persian turquoise has been traded worldwide for centuries, but this looks like Armenian Persian work to me. I have an Armenian Iranian 18k gold and turquoise ring.
I have no reason to believe it is anything other than 18k gold.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_alphabet

Maybe you can find the letters and see if it spells your grandmother's name.

 

someone wanted to make quite sure you knew it was 750 !!!!!!

 

Since we don't know which way is up:









Were your parents married after your mother moved to the US? I think it was new when your grandmother acquired it.

Very pretty. The mix of bluer & greener turquoise seems very Middle Eastern, maybe Turkish. I do not see Arabic script among the marks & no Eastern Arabic fineness marks.

These are current Japanese fineness marks, but the Mint says they were changed in 2012:



https://www.mint.go.jp/eng/operations-eng/eng_operations_certification-01.html

 

I'll see if I can identify the characters. Thank you!

 

Right! It is stamped several times. Ha!

 

Thank you! My father married my mother in Japan when he was stationed there. They then moved to California in the early 70s. I do not believe my mother purchased it for her in Japan, but unfortunately I am not sure.

 

Or the maker's name/initials. The shape of the punch is quite distinctive.

 

I agree it is distinctive. My wife says it resembles Thai. However, most Thai gold is closer to 24k.

 

Thanks! Do you have any suggestions on how to find out more about the mark?

 

Thanks! Do you have any suggestions on how to find out more about the mark?

 

I tried Google Lens on Davey's photo. Summary of the AI summary: it has a mark that says 750, indicating 18K gold; it has some other marks that mean something.