Big honkin .999 silver bracelet

[GopherDaGold]

Not exactly today's find but last week I was detecting at my niece's 1910 University City home in Saint Louis.
After finding a couple modern coins I moved closer to the house in what used to be a mulch bed. I got a screaming 84 on the AT Pro which resulted in this 35g bracelet stamped '1000' and encrusted with tiny blue stones. Might be turquoise but I'm not sure. It was unbroken until I started mucking with it and broke it at the hinge.
I had my jeweler sister confirm it was silver today.
I also dug a couple junker rings. Not too shabby for an hour long hunt.

 

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[Digger RJ]

Not exactly today's find but last week I was detecting at my niece's 1910 University City home in Saint Louis.
After finding a couple modern coins I moved closer to the house in what used to be a mulch bed. I got a screaming 84 on the AT Pro which resulted in this 35g bracelet stamped '1000' and encrusted with tiny blue stones. Might be turquoise but I'm not sure. It was unbroken until I started mucking with it and broke it at the hinge.
I had my jeweler sister confirm it was silver today.
I also dug a couple junker rings. Not too shabby for an hour long hunt.

Very Very Nice!!!!! Congrats!!!!

 

[Tnmountains]

Now that is a big ole hunk of silver. Treasure! Way to go.

 

[tamrock]

That's really nice bracelet.

 

[E-Trac-Ohio]

Excellent !

 

[Bamasteve]

Nice way to spend an hour!

 

[RVRoamer74]

That's definitely a great find. Big Silver is always a awesome dig. Congrats!

 

[GopherDaGold]

That's really nice bracelet.

My niece was standing there as I dug it up and was so excited when we realized what it was. She fell in love with it, tried it on, handed it back to me for more cleaning AND THEN I BROKE IT AT THE HINGE! She was not happy about that 😆
I plan on having it repaired then gifting it to her for Christmas.

That's really nice bracelet.

 

[xr7ator]

Lunker, nice! Hope it is repairable and thanks for the share.

 

[GopherDaGold]

Lunker, nice! Hope it is repairable and thanks for the share.

I took it to Harris Jewelers today. It is repairable but will cost double it's declared value.

 

[tamrock]

I took it to Harris Jewelers today. It is repairable but will cost double it's declared value.

You might see if there's a local community College around that teaches sliversmithing and they may agree to do it for less. Or shop around for a jeweler that's willing to do it for less.

 

[Lenrac2]

Awesome find!! Congrats!

 

[oldmxrat]

That's a great find, congrats!

 

[oldmxrat]

Oh, and better that it broke in your hands, rather than while your niece was wearing it only to be lost once again.

 

[Clay Diggins]

Unfortunately the 1000 mark does not indicate pure silver. 1000 is the mark for silver plate in many countries. I don't know of any country that allows that mark for solid silver items. Silver plate will surface test as silver. Pure silver would be marked 999 or "fine silver" and is too soft and malleable to be used for structural or high wear items like bracelets.

How to understand if silver is pure

We can begin by saying that 100% pure silver differs from sterling silver(composed of silver and copper alloy) due to its flexibility. Pure silver is so soft that in fact it cannot be fashioned to create those gorgeous silver creations that provide refinement and exclusivity to any interior.

www.schiavon.it

The price you were given for restoration is reasonable. A professional jeweler would first remove the glued stones, chemically clean the bracelet body, solder the broken hinge, polish the bracelet body, re plate the surface with silver then glue the stones back in.

If it was my niece I'd pay to have it repaired. A happy niece is worth more than any silver bracelet.

 

[GopherDaGold]

Unfortunately the 1000 mark does not indicate pure silver. 1000 is the mark for silver plate in many countries. I don't know of any country that allows that mark for solid silver items. Silver plate will surface test as silver. Pure silver would be marked 999 or "fine silver" and is too soft and malleable to be used for structural or high wear items like bracelets.

How to understand if silver is pure

We can begin by saying that 100% pure silver differs from sterling silver(composed of silver and copper alloy) due to its flexibility. Pure silver is so soft that in fact it cannot be fashioned to create those gorgeous silver creations that provide refinement and exclusivity to any interior.

www.schiavon.it

The price you were given for restoration is reasonable. A professional jeweler would first remove the glued stones, chemically clean the bracelet body, solder the broken hinge, polish the bracelet body, re plate the surface with silver then glue the stones back in.

If it was my niece I'd pay to have it repaired. A happy niece is worth more than any silver bracelet.

I'll be sure to show this reply to both professional jewlers who inspected and tested it.
I'm certain they will both be humbled by their error and may seek you out for more advice.

 

[Clay Diggins]

I'll be sure to show this reply to both professional jewlers who inspected and tested it.
I'm certain they will both be humbled by their error and may seek you out for more advice.

I'm retired from the industry now and no longer do consulting but thanks for the respect.

 

[GopherDaGold]

I'm retired from the industry now and no longer do consulting but thanks for the respect.

By the way the piece is extremely soft.
I have dug my share of plated junkers. Every plated piece I have recovered and every piece I see posted by others show plating loss after being in the ground.
There is no such loss on this bracelet because it's not plated.

 

[Clay Diggins]

I didn't just pull this out of my posterior Gopher, I was trying to give you information I had about your find. Most quality silver plate jewelery has a nickle silver base that is very resistant to corrosion and very malleable and ductile (soft). Quality nickle silver is classified as a stainless metal. The silver plating provides even more corrosion resistance. Cheaper plated jewlery will be a different copper alloy or potmetal base - those corrode quite easily although very differently from one another.

Since you are an experienced digger you know this already about silver plated tableware. Cheaper silverplate tableware will show obvious corrosion where the plating has worn and better quality plated tableware (nickle silver) will only show a small line that is easily polished out.

The style, design, materials and construction of your bracelet is very familiar to me. I've seen several pieces through the years including bracelets, pendants and even a few rings with the same metal, designs, mounts and fake turquoise rounds glued in. All were created on a kick press like yours. All had the 1000 mark. None had more than a plating of silver.

Maybe your find is pure(?) silver and made from real very high quality turquoise and the hinge didn't break because of dissimiliar metal galvanic corrosion because some quality jeweler copied the design of all those plated pieces marked 1000. I hope so but I'm not betting on it.

 

[Rhapsody]

Not exactly today's find but last week I was detecting at my niece's 1910 University City home in Saint Louis.
After finding a couple modern coins I moved closer to the house in what used to be a mulch bed. I got a screaming 84 on the AT Pro which resulted in this 35g bracelet stamped '1000' and encrusted with tiny blue stones. Might be turquoise but I'm not sure. It was unbroken until I started mucking with it and broke it at the hinge.
I had my jeweler sister confirm it was silver today.
I also dug a couple junker rings. Not too shabby for an hour long hunt.

always liked the silver & turquoise combination in southwest style jewelry, nice dig blew your ears off I'm sure!