Featured Mexican Jewelry - Comments Please

There are a couple of pieces of sterling jewelry stamped Mexico that I wanted to see if anyone had comments on.

• The first piece is a pendant with a Tiger's eye stone and a Carnelian (?) stone below. It has a thick chain and has the look of a substantial piece. It has CII stamped on it. Is this any significance? I'm going to try to find a tiger's eye bracelet to go with and wanted to see where I might search.

• The second one is sort of iffy. The blue material is soft and scratched. The links are very solid though. The catch is nice. The stamp Mexico 925 is off center.

Any thoughts, ideas about these pieces would be appreciated.

 

Suspect the chain for the pendant is Italian.

 

It is not in my Hougart's, and although it is not a regular post-1980 registration mark, I do think it is a more recent piece. The style looks like the modern pieces that come out of Jaipur, Rajasthan.

Ditto, an Italian chain.

Off centre doesn't matter with Mexican jewellery. The pretty blue inlay could be plastic, not unusual on Mexican pieces. I like the chunky curled links.
I think it is a pre-1948 mark, but I'll tag @reader to be sure. The style certainly looks 1930s, but that is no guarantee.

 

I may be just me, but any Mexican pieces I get marked for silver I confirm by testing with acid. I have found quite a few fraudulently marked pieces, especially those bracelets with the stone or glass carved heads on them.

Your pieces do not look like the typically fraudulently marked pieces, but I would confirm silver anyway. JMHO

 

Ah ha. I just assumed Mexican.

 

Here I thought it was the solid Mexican piece. Learning all the time. I appreciate your help, so much.

 

And I thought that this was the fake. I love old Mexican jewelry (actually old jewelry in general.) Again, I just grabbed this at the sale, but after looking it at home and trying to research it, I saw the chunky links. The plastic threw me off, but when @reader pointed out with her beautiful necklace, plastic was a substitute for other materials when the actual material was too dear or not available.

 

Thank you. Because of your previous comments, I now have an eye for Mexican beach jewelry passed off as real silver. You saved me some money. Thank you.

 

I'm not saying it was made in Jaipur, just that the style is like those Jaipur pieces. People are inspired by or copying styles all over the world.

It is a nice bracelet, a good honest piece.
The other one doesn't have to be a fake, it just doesn't have the usual tax register mark. Maybe made by a tax dodger.

 

Thanks so much for clarifying. Even though, I am getting a little better at spotting good stuff, I immediately think I made a mistake. Your comments make me happy. I am going to sell a Taxco necklace with a matching bracelet (not Taxco) that I never wear and wanted to find something that I might.

 

TY FOR THE TAGS! I agree with the stated comments. I can’t identify either piece but do think the stamps are legit. I think they’re both Mexican. I agree that the pendant is a marriage on an Italian flat snake chain. I agree that it’s tiger’s eye and carnelian. It’s atypical IMO and I too think it looks Asian but there’s no reason IMO to think it wasn’t made in Mexico. It’s newer for sure. It can’t be earlier than 80s with that construction and could be 90s forward. The coding is unidentified and odd to me. My guess is that it’s a more volume driven commercial piece possibly made for a larger company importing from Mexico.

The necklace/bracelet? is older and I don’t know what the blue material is. Plastic is a possibility. It’s odd to me that it isn’t coded or Eagle stamped. I’d guess it to be mid century.

Plastic has been used in Mexican jewelry although I do want to clarify that what I was specifically referring to on my necklace relates only to Santo Domingo Pueblo jewelry. I am not familiar with other NA jewelry that specifically worked with batteries, records, red plastic and chipped turquoise when genuine materials were not affordable. IMO Mexican jewelry with plastic was more related to commercial price point than to poverty stricken silversmiths.

 

Thanks for your usual detailed and knowledgeable comments. I have other Mexican pieces that have plastic instead of stone, so I'm sorry I extrapolated too much from your remarks about your necklace. I appreciate you very much and don't want to overstep.

 

I have a Mexican money clip with abalone inlay. Very handsome piece. Its marked sterling on top of the clip. Under the clip much harder to see it’s marked alpaca. Lol. I didn’t bother testing it, I’m gonna assume the lesser of the two is more likely. Older Mexican stuff I have faith in but testing newer stuff is probably a good idea.

 

Thank you. I study and look for marks, but I'm not skilled enough to figure it out on my own. The members here always set me straight.