www.925-1000.com

It appears to be a dispenser for something, business cards or cigarettes come to mind by the dimentions. It also appears to have an internal part missing, this would have been either a slanted sheet or a curved one which would have supported the items, or possibly a glass liner. There appears to be ...

I have seen that same mark on charms that came from a supplier called Rio Grande in Albequerque, New Mexico. I am unsure if they make them in house or have them from another supplier. If I have a chance to dig out their catalogue I will see if it contains any additional information.
.

When I worked for Towle Silversmiths in the mid 1970's we had a supply of ivory insulators which we used for certain high-end patterns. For the other pots we used either antler or bone. I left about the time they were switching to plastic (in the late 70's).
.

The outdated American name for smoky quartz is smoky topaz, a truly misleading term and discouraged by any good jewelr. It is also inexpensive enough to have been mounted in this sterling mount. As for the mount it appears to be from the 60's based on style and the smoky quartz was also popular in t...

Make a thin mat of several sheets of newspaper, place a sheet of aluminum foil shiny side down atop the mat and press the stamp into it. This will give you an impression of the stamp.
.

I suspect they were not bought together. The glass dish looks very unstable on that console base. Once filled with food, it would be hard to "self-serve" from the dish without tipping it over. When I was an apprentice the shop I was in sold a selection of glass "add-ons" which co...

I posted a spoon by them here:

viewtopic.php?t=10179

However the mark is a full name, not a maker's mark.

The monogram appears to be MSC (not easy to tell from the angle). Since the letters are all the same hight, common use would say they should be read in order.

I have the demure spoon, 12cm long in silver-plated brass. The mark of M&W in a single shield, much like the individual shields used by Mappin & Webb of Sheffield. Can anyone confirm this use? The spoon appears to have been made for Kynoch Ammunition, maybe as a promotional good. It is tippe...

Yes, seeing the piece as a whole, it appears something pitted the surface. Alas the only way to bring back a uniform finish would be to buff the piece. I wonder if it had been stored in a dry-cleaner's bag or other plastic film.
.

Glad to hear it something is happening. If you think it is lacquer then a vew swipes with finger-nail polish remover should get rid of the rest. I have seen too many pieces that have been either shellaced or varnished in the past (polishing would have been a much better solution). It is nasty to do ...

Thank you very much!

H-D, this is a process if inlay, similar to pique work, but in metal. Different alloys are used to create metal of different colours. This is something the Japanese mastered a few centuries ago and use to create some wonderful things. By adding metals like aluminum, zinc, antimony to the silver it c...

Jay, do the black spots stand proud of the metal (can be felt when you drag your fingernail across them) in which case it could be something the piece was set on and stuck to the silver. further polishing should remove it. Severly oxidized pieces may take several polishings to bring back the uniform...

Thank you! it is a lead that may advance my search.

Jim

Either German or Danish. A child's spoon, engraved Sophie on the front and 22=1=06 on the back. The front bright cutting is very tight and well done. The spoon has a stamped bowl while the handle is hand forged length is 5 1/8"-13cm. Any suggestions of origion would be helpful, Thank you. http:...

Trev may have a point, if you look to the left side of the two-mark picture, there is a shadow that looks like a shallow curve, this could be the remains of the maker's mark. there is room between it and the city mark to have fitted the quality mark. However why would the soveriegn's head have been ...

This is a coin spoon marked C. Swift, but I can not fnd him listed in my reference materials. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Jim http://aycu17.webshots.com/image/32696/2001487021635231364_rs.jpg http://aycu39.webshots.com/image/35478/2001445801145279815_rs.jpg .

I need help with these 2 spoons, the mark is C&N very weakly stamped (10X loupe showed that it is not O&N). Does anyone recognise the maker? Other than size they are conpletely identical, the engraving matches some other spoons I have that were made in Newburyport, MA. Thank you. http://aycu...

You can see damage to the lower left hand edge of the channel. Most likely one stone came out and the others shifted and fell before the owner noticed.
.