www.925-1000.com

Very cool bangles, and unusual. Possibly from one of the "tribal" areas of China's southwest. That's only a guess.

My guess is Chinese, very possibly Hong Kong. Toothpick or cigarette holder, or shot glass?? And maybe not silver. You may want to test it for silver content.

Yes, probably Thai, possibly Lao or Cambodian. It was very common for the ethnic Chinese silver makers in those countries to stamp their wares with the Chinese characters for their business name, and often some other marks in the local language/script for purity and weight. But in bygone years at le...

Yes, I would agree, the origination is either Thailand, Laos, or Cambodia, in that order. Very common for the mostly-Chinese makers in those countries, at least the bigger ones, to stamp their wares with the Chinese characters for their business name, and often some other marks in the local language...

A simple "STERLING 950" is a common Japanese 20th C. mark. "STERLING 950 SILVER" is not common, but I would certainly still go along with the Japan designation.

Most of the older Chinese and Indian pieces I have come across that are marked "SILVER" have in fact been high-grade silver. Yours does look like it. I doubt that it is plated, but a simple test would let you know. The red material is cinnabar. Nowadays some "cinnabar" is molded ...

Hi Peter, Thanks for passing that message along. First of all, I have no interest whatsoever in spreading “blatant” or any sort of misinformation, nor do I believe that I have done so. Also, being a quiet guy, I do not wish to engage anyone in a shouting match. But I do have an interest in sincere i...

Are there any stamps on the bottom?

J.N. Jacopo (I know, it looks like Jacobo, and that's an "N" not a "V"). "The Jacopo brothers operated a silverhouse in Mexico City called Arte en Plata , later to be renamed as Joyas de Plata . Many items they sold were made by independent silversmiths located in Taxco.&quo...

Other silver makers who supplied the retailer LATON with their work include TN-56,TF-45, and TS-84.
923 silver is quite unusual, but some other LATON suppliers used it as well (e.g.TS-84).

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Winner, winner, chicken dinner. It’s “pure silver, at least 99 percent.” So says my Chinese/Vietnamese jewel, who tested it, and who knows his stuff. As for the not-quite-right kanji character for silver, he says he does occasionally see little variations like that, so no big deal. (But I do still w...

Hey, not so quick there with the bad news. You’re right, it does look different than 銀 , but it definitely is not 錫 . Check out my 3 new pics. Also, pure tin is very soft (same as lead, 1.5 on the Mohs hardness scale), while silver is harder (2.5 – 3). Sterling silver, or other similar alloys of sil...

I just picked up a hand-wrought piece from the same maker. But who is the maker? I can't read archaic kanji (let alone regular kanji). On my plate the jungin is included. So, yes, it is silver, not pewter. 9.5" diam. - 301 grams. Any updates on the maker would be great. Thanks http://i17.photob...

That's actually a tobacco pipe, not for opium. But in old photos you can see that they were often smoked alongside each other. Maybe that's why they are sometimes mistaken for opium pipes.

I don't know, but those marks are identical to those of the "Asian silver box hallmark" post down below.

JanGroen,
Your guess that it's from Bali and is 90% silver may be absolutely correct. Another possibility is that it's from the city of Yogya (also spelled Jogja or Djokja) on the island of Java. Most silver items there are marked 800 (80%), but 90% was also produced.

Thanks for that.

I have found from another source that 銀製 basically means "Made of Silver", which is a bit vague, but in the case of my compact, I have tested it to be sterling, or close to it (90-95% silver).

I recognize the top character on this 3" ladies compact as "silver" but the lower character is not "pure" as it would be with the jungin mark. What is it? Does it refer to a particular grade of silver? Also, there's some kanji on the front, left side. A name? Year? Thanks. h...

Some resemblance to "swami silver" from Madras, southern India. Late 19th, early 20th C. I believe. You'd better investigate further.

P.S. - Yes, Thai language. Btw, that Thai alphabet chart above is only the 44 consonants. There are something like 32 vowels as well.