www.925-1000.com

I would lean towards a fruit knife. I really can't see a carpenter using a silver knife, and I imagine a woman would prefer a sharpener for her eyeliner pencils.
The blade section can quite obviously be turned around and slotted back into the case, to form a longer knife (pity you didn't include a ...

It's crucial to keep learning, and one learns from one's mistakes very valuable lessons. I personally will buy doubtful items as long as I'm not paying a high premium for them, as in quite a few cases I've been able to prove them to be genuine. But this comes after a lifetime of experience ...

In my humble opinion, the quality of the wirework and enamel is very poor and the egg is not the work of a renowned maker.

The reason there are two hallmarks each time is that there are two sections in silver for each pen, but only one can be easily hallmarked. The double mark shows that two items that make up a whole were presented to the assay office and checked for title.

I think it was designed for sharpening wits - it's doing a good job at the moment...

The larger mesh bags are sometimes found in green gold, though I've never seen the small ones in this colour, they're always in either yellow gold or silver.
It's worth noting that the small purses, when they are oval or rounded, were used for holding coins, while the square or rectangular ones were ...

Nice work Peter.
I knew it couldn't possibly be the mark that was initially suggested, your attribution ticks all the boxes !

The Mercury head hallmark in an oval frame was used between 1879 and 1994 to mark items intended for export, and for which the hallmarking duties had been refunded.
The crab hallmark was employed to mark small silver items between 1838 and 1984. The assay office mark V can be distinguished on the ...

The maker is Marcel ALBERT, of Paris, symbol an ant between MA . The mark was registered on 1st February 1925.

Note that this company specialised in findings and especially catches, so they were almost certainly not the makers of the earrings, just the clip.
You should find other marks on the wire ...

56 stands for 14 carat, you would need to determine which Eastern European country hallmarked the chain before trying to identify the maker.

The maker's mark on the spoon shows a crowned 11F, apparently struck by using two separate punches.
Is there any indication that the maker that has been suggested would have used two punches to strike his maker's mark? This would be very unusual, I haven't seen any similar cases, and the photo of ...

As a matter of interest, my research indicates there's no truth to or evidence for the popular suggestion that certain hallmarks found were private marks made by the French silversmith's association.

It appears these marks should be considered more as assay marks, possibly arranged by silversmiths ...

I agree with the identification of the maker, however as his christian name is Adrien, and his surname Pierre, it might be best to call him Mr. Adrien Pierre. He worked at 145 rue du Temple, Paris, his maker's mark was registered 19th August 1910.

The eagle's head facing left was used in 1809 in the French departments as a census mark on medium-sized gold and silver objects.
When the new hallmarks were introduced in 1809, a census was decreed to be held from 1 September to 1 November 1809. The census marks were affixed: firstly on works ...

I've been dealing in jewellery and silverware for 45 years, I'm good with 19th century hallmarks but poor with 18th century, I would have to agree that the marks are fake. The style of the plate is completely anachronistic - nothing in that style was ever made in 18th century France.

For what it's worth, a drop of acid on the maker's mark will in some cases make it more visible. The police use the same technique to reveal serial numbers filed off guns, and US coin dealers use it on buffalo nickels to reveal the dates which have worn away. When metal is struck, the lower parts ...

I've had a through all the marks starting with an S and with an E or an F, no luck. I also searched for marks with the symbol of a lucarne (beetle) or tenaille (pincers), still nothing.

Yes, I totally agree, it looks like an egg spoon.
Untreated silver goes black and can give an unpleasant taste when used to consume eggs.

New hallmarks were introduced each time that it was observed that fake hallmarks were becoming too prevalent. Hallmarking was a useful source of taxes for the government, and it got annoyed whenever more than half of all jewellery was bypassing the assay offices.
Each time new hallmarks were ...

Hello,
I'm presently working on a new book, Maker's Marks of the Great French Jewellery Houses and their Workshops .
While it's not difficult to find all the marks of the major houses, it's virtually impossible to find ALL of the workshops (or subcontractors) who made silverware and jewellery for ...