Vintage Marcasite Jewelry

Q: I have a question for those who collect and/or trade in vintage jewellery/beads and sterling silver. I have an old marquisette catch that is marked on the back 'silver 835' it came off a broken pearl necklace (lovely lustre and almost no wear) the marquisette is held in by tiny pin claws, (one way that I know of how to pick old marquisette jewellery) the catch is a rectangular box shape with a hook that slides in side to close the catch, In Australia we call them fish catches (dont know why???) any Idea of how old it may be and country of manufacture? and how common is 835 silver, I know about .925 been the modern alloy mix for sterling, never heard of 835 before.

A:Lots of Marcasite jewelery that is vintage was made in Germany [ & it will be stamped Germany ] . The best of the Deco is German , or French . Some was even made in England . 835 is a German quality of silver [ not "german silver " , which is not silver at all . Just like "Nickle silver " has no silver .] , & believe me , keeping up with metal hallmarks can be daunting . The "claw settings" , which is [LOL!} actually called bead setting , is a diamond/gemstone technique . A small graver tool cuts & pushes the metal over the stone , & actually sets it into the metal . Good diamond pave is done like that . It shows that the stones aren't just glued in ! Good way to tell the old from the new . Almost all new marcasite jewelry is glued , colored to look antique , & gosh help it if it hits any water . Also , the castings that they are glued into look like there is bead setting . The opening that the stone is in will be very regular , round , without the notches that real bead setting requires . Hope this helps . I thikn that the setting technique alone is a good indicater that this is a good vintage catch . There are good & cheap books on hallmarks , probably websites as well . If anyone has the addys on websites , please share them .

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