Post subject: Trying to ID a maker's mark EU or UE
Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2014 6:29 pm
Active Member
Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2011 12:51 pm Posts: 80
Hi All:
I am trying to ID a maker's mark on a gold bracelet, probably mid-century, possibly European. The full mark is "585", followed by stylized letters, either UE or EU. It is possible the "E" is a "W" but it looks more like an "E", even though it is at right angle to the letter "U". Two views are attached.
Post subject: Re: Trying to ID a maker's mark EU or UE
Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2014 11:18 pm
Active Member
Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2011 12:51 pm Posts: 80
It is a beautiful piece, and beautifully made. My thought is maybe 20s or 30s. The design seems to have a hint of Deco about it, maybe a hint of Egyptian or Arabic motif. Just a guess though! It belonged to the owner's grandmother, possibly from Europe.
Post subject: Re: Trying to ID a maker's mark EU or UE
Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2014 11:26 pm
Site Admin
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:22 pm Posts: 21602 Location: San Francisco
Possible.....but the fashionable metal color in the 20's and 30's was white....there are exceptions.
Yellow gold came back with a vengeance in the 40's (with Retro and Victorian revival) and the 70's-80's. I'll ask Julie Kerlin about this tomorrow.....see if she has an insight.
Post subject: Re: Trying to ID a maker's mark EU or UE
Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2014 1:31 am
Moderator: Appraisal Science
Joined: Wed Feb 19, 2014 2:52 pm Posts: 2
Hello Neil:
Sorry for the late response, as I have been out-of-town with limited connectivity. At first glance, my thought was Mid-Century Victorian-Revival. However, then I noticed that the panels are hollow and what construction I could see didn’t “feel” that old. Not that they didn’t make hollow pieces in the 1940’s-50’s, but the way these panels appear to be made, they would have been somewhat difficult / labor intensive to make. That got me wondering, since I don’t know the length, width, and weight of the piece, would the bracelet have been too heavy to wear comfortably if it had made of solid panels? If so, that would help explain the construction. If not, I started to think that perhaps the piece was made during a time of high gold prices. Or, as Barbra pointed out to me today, in a location with inexpensive labor. Absent seeing the bracelet, I’m now starting to think it may be from the early- to mid-1970’s. The beginnings of OPEC and the various oil crises of the 1970’s dramatically increased gold prices, as well as oil prices. Gold went from about $36/troy oz. in 1970 to about $160/troy oz. in 1975 -- a historic increase not seen at any time before this -- as gold prices were quite stable from the 1930’s up until this time. This might account for the economic need to make the piece hollow.
On an additional note, per Barbra’s inexpensive labor comment to me, this might be a clue as to the maker’s mark and fineness stamp. We couldn’t find any info on the maker’s mark, but the mark in a cushion-shaped outline and the “585”, which could look European, could also be from, perhaps, South America -- a high-quality, but inexpensive labor market that would not have necessarily used the “14K” fineness stamp.
In summary, none of these comments are conclusive, but some further “evidence” to add to the other contributions. Please let me know if any of this makes any sense at all compared with your knowledge of the piece and its ownership. Thanks!
Post subject: Re: Trying to ID a maker's mark EU or UE
Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2014 1:17 pm
Active Member
Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2011 12:51 pm Posts: 80
Hi Barbra and Julie,
Julie, thanks for that really informative discussion. Interestingly, although the provenance of the bracelet is lost to the mists of time, the owner, who inherited the piece via her grandmother, thinks her grandmother may have been in South America at some point, perhaps in the 1960s. Other than that, the piece has been in her family for sure since the 1970s, so it can't be any later than that! The length is about 7-5/8", and the width about 5/8". It is about 1/16" thick, and it weighs about 24 grams. There are 19 plaques in all.
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