Featured Silver test results on 2 unmarked silver necklaces & signed earrings

I decided to start a new thread on my problems testing silver (will add a link to the other thread since I said I'd post photos after I found a white tile).

Since I had difficulty seeing the color of the silver scrape on my black testing stone, @Hollyblue suggested I use a white unglazed tile with my new silver testing acid. The closest thing I could find is a bisque trinket box (I also found a free matte glazed floor tile, but the surface was too rough).

So I tried testing two necklaces that I bought several years ago at thrift stores to determine if they're silver. I found a necklace online similar to the first one that was marked 800, but my necklace isn't marked.


The second necklace isn't marked either, but looks like an older Navajo necklace. The end cones definitely are not silver, but the beads seem to be silver, so I'm wondering if maybe it was restrung (it's strung on a fine chain).



Here are the test results--it appears they're silver--the colors look like dark red (.925), or are they brown(.800)? I looked at them from the side also, but couldn't see a difference.


Below are a pair of silver earrings that aren't marked, just have a "VB" signature different than Volmer Bahner's Denmark signature--I found a pair like them on Etsy attributed to Bahner, but there seems to be other Danish jewelers that use a VB signature, and most Bahner jewelry is enameled, so probably not his???


Here are the test results with a piece of sterling on the left from a jewelry-making class I took decades ago, and a faux-silver piece on the right. I'm wondering why the acid on the left lost its yellow/orange color.


Here are my old and new bottles of silver test acid--I used the new bottle.


I'm thinking I'll probably test silver jewelry with the new silver acid until it goes bad, and then use my old 18k acid which still seems to work.

 

The seams on the Navajo beads has solder all over them,so you were testing 70% silver. The cones seem to marked but I can't read them.

 

Thanks, @Hollyblue, for pointing out the solder. I didn't want to scrape the rounded sides of the beads since the seam wore down more then I expected when I scraped it on the bisque box. I decided to do some reading on soldering silver, and learned that soldering causes sterling to soften because of the heat. So, if that's true, I probably shouldn't scrape the beads on a testing stone.

The marks you're seeing on the cones are just little stamped squares, and the seams look like they're just sort of overlapped. I tested the cones and they didn't test as silver. [Later addition] I looked at the cones again with a magnifying glass, and they are soldered, not overlapped, but there's kind of a gap in the soldered seam.

The necklace beads look more crudely-made than other similar necklaces I've seen online where the beads look more refined and uniform. Could that mean my necklace may not be Navajo?

 

Probably every piece of silver you have which has been soldered on is "soft",it is a fact of life. The modern argentium silver can be heat hardened on a kiln to a certain point. There is no way to prove the necklace was NA made. The construction of the cones,stamping the designs on the balls,and poor soldering makes it look like it was made by a student,hobbyist,etc.

 

Thanks, Hollyblue, good to know. Glad I only paid $6 for it.

 

They look brown to me. An almost amber colour, so could even be lower than .800.

The first necklace is indeed Indian, could be Rajasthani but it is a fairly generic Indian style.

Yes, it is a variation on the sunburst motif. You can buy those in jewellery craft stores.
That said, it is a very attractive necklace, and strung on a fine chain sounds good.
I agree with what Holly said about the quality though. What struck me was that the motifs on the beads don't line up, the maker didn't take care to make them symmetrical.
Below is an example of symmetrical beads:

You did very well.

 

Not like any Volmer Bahner mark I know and not his style, so not his, imo.

 

I’ve got that Indian necklace and also a bracelet. Both with that BA mark.

 

Thank you so much, Any Jewelry, for all your comments and information. The "Navajo?" necklace you found looks almost identical except for better workmanship and a different center bead.

I think one of these days I'll try testing both necklaces again on a black tile with 18k acid--I think I did that a week ago, but now I can't remember whether I used the new 18k acid (which is defective) or my old acid--too many acids, too much jewelry! I need to get myself organized when I test the rest of my questionable silver jewelry.

 

You can never have too much jewellery.
But I get what you mean. You lose track of what you have and what to do.