Posted 7 years ago
freiheit
(1223 items)
I bought this vintage bracelet recently. It was sold as 925 silver but I am not 100% sure that this is really the case. It could be alpaca even though it was marked 925. But it doesn't matter to me because I love it anyway and the price was good either way.
The blue stones could be turquoise - at least this is what I think they would like to be -LOL. I have a feeling that they might be ceramic or porcelain.
I think the bracelet is fairly old; it possibly might date to the 1940's.
Thanks for looking:)
Many thanks, Caperkid:)
I agree that the "turquoise" is ceramic rather than stone. The metal looks too "sharp" to be silver. I have seen this sort of bracelet before. It's pretty, though.
Yes, I have seen many similar ones on line sold as sterling. I am really not sure. It did clean up like silver. I am thinking that it may be a combination of alpaca and sterling??? Who knows... it looks nice when worn with the others:)
It says Hecho in Mexico. I think it is silverplate over copper. You can see a little copper on the edge in the first pic. I think the 'turquoise' is glass.
Mary, many thanks for your comment. As always, I really appreciate it. I have been looking for a long time for a similar one. I have found many silver bracelets with the same design but none with the kind of "stones" like mine. Oh well, I will keep looking.
Why couldn't it be genuine turquoise? The edges aren't well defined, and to my amateur eye could pass for a turquoise nugget.
Celiene, thanks for your comment. I don't think it is copper. I posted the bracelet before I cleaned it and there is no base metal showing through. I think that was just plain old dirt. Also, years ago silver was so dirt cheep that I don't think Mexican silversmiths would have gone through the bother of producing it in copper and silver plating it. Having said that, there is very nice Mexican copper jewelry out there I would like to add to my little collection.
Gillian, thanks for your comment. It does look like turquoise in the photos but when you actually hold the piece in your hand, you can tell that it is not stone. Of course I would like it to be turquoise - but it isn't:(