Question about Markings

Jewelry Discussion
1

Hello Friends:

I took my magnifiers out and examined an old bracelet that was given
to me by an aunt and found some unusual markings. Does anyone have
any idea as to their meaning or source? The markings were very
small.

It has markings of…what looks like “>9WJ<” with the brackets part
of the stamping, and then on the opposite end of the linked bracelet

  • a cross with a narrowing or arrow at it’s base - AND - a small oval
    with some kind of stem at the top [like the nub of a leaf stem] and
    an “8” within the oval. It seems to be very well made. The linked
    pieces are actually hinged throughout…kind of like… = = = = = = =
    = = =

Repeated. The box clasp is hand made. It is just a little over an
inch wide and the linked portion 6" in length. It fits nuggly around
my wrist, but is definitely “gutsy”. The metal is silver grey, not
silver [at least that’s my guess - I should test it I suppose].

Any insight would be helpful…thank-you!

–barbara

2

Hi Barbara

I remember reading a book about hallmarking in various countries (for
instance, England) where each piece of gold jewelry is stamped with a
variety of marks such as the karat, the assayer, the jewelry maker,
the location, and the year. Various symbols were represented for each
of the marks, like a lion or a thistle, a crown, a number, etc. You
could probably find this yourself by doing a search on the
Internet, or by going to your local library and referencing
’hallmarks’.

Jeffrey Everett