Need help to ID the hallmark on the cross

Inherited this cross with other things from my grandmother.
Have no idea about its history.
Need help to identify the hallmark or its approximate age.

 

Hello taurnill, welcome.

The 750 mark is for 18k (carat) gold, in this case white gold.
The green stones look like emeralds, which often have those dark inclusions. Emeralds are often used for crosses, because of the green colour, which symbolizes faith. A pity one is missing, but you can get that replaced.
The white stones could be sapphire, topaz, diamond, or another similar stone, hard to tell without testing.

 

Thank you Any Jewelry.

Can you give me any tips regarding the 750 mark.
In which years or countries it was used in rhombus shape?

 

750 is .750 = 18 kt gold. 18/24 = 75% The purest gold = 24KT that is expressed in decimal form as .999 fine. There is no 100% fineness for gold for all of it has some impurities. To figure the the decimal fineness of the rest: 12/24 = .500, 14/24 =.583, etc.

"The decimal is found by dividing the actual caratage by 24, the most carats gold can have."

I wonder if there is another hallmark above the 750 lozenge that looks like a jelly fish floating sideways?" At the moment, I don't know what countries use a diamond shape lozenge (rhombus) for their gold marks.

--- Susan

 

I have seen a 750 mark in a rhombus or lozenge shape on Japanese gold jewellery. That doesn't mean it can't have been used somewhere else as well. To my knowledge it is not a European mark.

 

I thought it was a bird, a swan maybe, looking back over it's shoulder.

 

Stylized "S" ?

 

Japan is a thought. I believe Italy did/does some of their gold purity hallmarks in rhombus, but the country insist on the standard maker's mark that includes the maker's registered number, etc... I still have no idea what that other mark is. I tried searching on "jellyfish" and "crab," to only come up with jellyfish and crab charm thingies.

--- Susan

 

Italy has the gold mark in a rhombus with slightly rounded ends, and yes, they insist on maker's numbers, the province initials, and I believe a star.
The rhombus with rounded/flattened ends, top left:

 

Wait a minute! I really do believe that is a crab. Just found the following that says one of France's gold hallmarks is a crab.

"For smaller items, as jewelry, the system is much more simplified and comprises of a mark indicating the precious metal and a maker's mark. Since 1838 an eagle's head indicates a gold purity of at least 18 karat and the boar's head or crab mark is stamped on articles with a minimum fineness of 800/1000 silver. These three marks are the most prolific on French jewelry. The crab was used for articles made in the departements while the boar's head was the mark of the Paris assay office. From 1912 a dog's head is used as the mark for platinum."
http://www.langantiques.com/university/Hallmarks_on_Period_Jewelry

I can now see that the mark is definitely a crab. The top leg appendage thing has a head with an eye at the end and 2 antennae.



--- Susan

 

I only know the French crab mark from 800 silver, and that is a well-defined, though tiny crab in a cartouche.

Just read the Lang article, it says a crab for 800 silver as well.

 

French crab mark for 800 silver:

 

I just don't know. The French crab mark used in silver is of a different shape and I can't find a crab used as a French gold mark.

BTW, That same chart of Italian gold purity marks was where I found the rhombus for Italian hallmarking and of course knowing it needed a standard marker's mark.

--- Susan

Edit: The mark is strange crab mark for sure. With all those hanging appendages, it looks more like one of those aliens in that 1996 movie "Independence Day" with Will Smith.

I'm lost on gold hallmarks. I usually can fight my way through silver hallmarks with the help of Tardy's International Hallmarks on Silver; Rainwater's Encyclopedia of American Silver Mfg'ers; Jackson's Hallmarks: English, Scottish, Irish, etc...; Hougart's Little Book on Mexican Silver...; Ensko's American Silversmiths & Their Marks; Wright's Hallmarks of the Southwest; McGrew's Manufacturers' of Marks on American Coin Silver; along with with a couple of Kovels and Wyler books all known to have erroneous info. Also the many silver online books and websites are a great help in silver research. My next reference book may be on gold hallmarks if I can find a reputable reasonably price one.

Hopefully Cheryl will chime in on this query. I'd be interested to know the country of origin on these marks. @DragonflyWink

 

I think the 'Independence Day crab' or bird mark is a maker's mark. The gold fineness, possibly assay, mark is the 750 one.
If the Independence Day crab mark is a bird, it looks like something a Japanese maker would use.

 

Thank you for the help!
Love the 'Independence Day crab' mark idea ))
Do you know any online gold marks catalogs to search through?

 

I wish. The emphasis is on silver. There are countless sites on silver marks, most of them copy an Italian one, so if mistakes are made in the first one, they keep showing up in the other sites.
Online I mostly research the scant information the assay offices of different countries are willing to provide, but that means I have to have an idea where in this big wide world a piece of jewellery could have been made. I have a German book that lists marks based on their appearance, say a crab, so that is a start. It doesn't have a section on Independence Day crabs, but that was based on a confusion with a silver mark.

But I wouldn't put too much time into reseaching the maker's mark (I.D. crab). You'll probably never find it. And if you do, it is unlikely to add any value to the pendant.
By the way, I just found the site of Japan Mint, the 750 mark is not Japanese. They have a row of marks, including a 750 in a rhombus/diamond shape:
http://www.mint.go.jp/wp-content/uploads/resources/htdocs/eng/operations/pdf/certification_mark.pdf

 

Right off the top of my head, I don't know any real good online gold marks site. Like Any... said, silver is the emphasis of online info. A few of the silver sites do have a little, again a little, gold info. Following are a couple of silver sites that do have a **little** gold info.

Good silver site:
http://www.925-1000.com/
Here is one of their pages with info on French gold hallmarks:
http://www.925-1000.com/Ffrench_marks.html
Here is a listing of e-books (online books) on this site that do include some gold info: http://www.925-1000.com/eBooks_01.html
Their silver forum has very knowledgeable moderators that might be able to help on these markings?
http://www.925-1000.com/forum/index.php

Here is that Italian silver site Any... was referring to.
http://www.silvercollection.it/
Here is their hallmark directory with links, etc... to the different countries. Scroll down the page to see links to American, Great Britain, France, Germany, etc....
http://www.silvercollection.it/hallmarks.html

Here are a few online books with some gold info
1. Jackson's English Goldsmiths and their Marks: A History of of the Goldsmiths and Plateworkers of England, Scotland and Ireland
http://www.langantiques.com/univers...lateworkers_of_England,_Scotland,_and_Ireland

2. Chaffer's Hallmarks on Gold & Silver
https://books.google.com/books?id=aIgMAAAAYAAJ&printsec=titlepage#v=onepage&q&f=false

3. Markham's Hand Book to Foreign Hallmarks on Gold & Silver Plate
https://books.google.com/books?id=r...ce=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
http://www.archive.org/stream/handbooktoforei00markgoog#page/n6/mode/2up

4. Markham's Hand Book of French Hallmarks on Gold & Silver Plate
https://books.google.com/books?id=l...ce=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

A few other gold related sites:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/gds/GOLD-SILVER-HALLMARKS-ALSO-PLATINUM-/10000000000969938/g.html
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/jewel/pages/gold.shtml
http://www.kitco.com/market/
http://www.jewellerycatalogue.co.uk/gold_jewellery/assay_hallmark.php
http://www.gold-traders.co.uk/hallmarks/
*.pdf formated file:
http://webarchive.nationalarchives....ingcouncil.gov.uk/publications/hallmarks2.pdf
http://www.langantiques.com/university/Hallmarks_on_Period_Jewelry

Here is a document on the EU hallmarkings of precious metals. It is a *.pdf formatted file. Title The application of the Material Recognition Regulalation to articles of precious metals. The purity marks start on page 6, section 5. "Compusory Markings of the Product" and continue through section 6. and possibly into section 7.
http://ec.europa.eu/geninfo/query/r...ous+metals+Brussels+1.2.2010&sbtSearch=Search
Directly to the document:
http://ec.europa.eu/DocsRoom/documents/5806/attachments/1/translations/en/renditions/pdf

--- Susan

 

That is a good place to start for silver, it is actually a spin-off of the Italian site, the same owner. I just wish there was something like that on gold.

 

I should have added the SMP Silver Salon Forums. There are very knowledgeable silver folks, real gurus on silver, on this website that are also pretty good on gold markings. On this forum you need to register to be able to post. If you post a query, make sure you don't mention that you may be selling the object and don't mention eBay. They will not help anyone in trying to evaluate something they are planning to sell.

Homepage:
http://www.smpub.com/
Forums:
http://www.smpub.com/cgi/ubb/Ultimate.cgi

Using their search engine for any gold info. Came up with pages of gold related queries:
https://www.google.com/search?q=gold+hallmarks&sitesearch=www.smpub.com/ubb/

--- Susan

 

Sorry, my old eyes can't make out that mark at all - can only say that it doesn't look to me like a French crab mark, and suspect it may be an Italian maker's mark, the official marks should be used, but have seen many exceptions (with more readable marks), especially on jewelry.

Regarding the 925-1000 site being a "spin-off" of the Italian site - that is absolutely incorrect, there is no connection at all.

Giorgio started the 'silver collection.it' site, it originally highlighted his personal collection with a small section on a few European marks and he has now expanded it quite admirably - not sure when he started, but I first discovered it in the early 2000s, his 'ascasonline.org' site started in 2004.

Tom started the '925-1000.com' site in 2000, it grew rapidly but has had less updating in recent years because of personal issues in Tom's life - the forums started in 2005 and still run strong under the able administration of Trev (dognose), with a variety of knowledgeable International members.

On 'smpub.com', please just don't post there if you are only interested in sales information, the site is fully searchable for information already posted, but it is intended for discussion between lovers of silver. This was a policy I didn't really agree with when instituted, but have now come to enjoy a place with often in-depth discussions rather than cursory 'what is it?' queries that often don't even elicit a 'thank you'.

Will say, with all references, whether printed or online, errors are made, with some marks identified incorrectly and some marks remaining unattributed, though new information continues to show up, and that some variations and anomalies can occur even in marks that are well researched...

~Cheryl