Russian cross of silver; authentic?

[Silbersammler]

Hi,
after I bought in the past mostly fakes, I stopped bying russian silver for a while.
Until today, I liked this cross a lot, the dealer was serious (I think so) and I hope (and think), it is authentic.
But I would like the opinion of the experts here.
Thanks a lot for every help.
Here the pics:









Kind regards
Steffen

[Juke]

Hi!

Sorry to say but the cross is not authentic. The religious items are very difficult and are often forged, one would need the knowledge of making silver rizzas and icon paintings before undestanding the items. This is not a good field to start buying as the authentic items are difficult to recognize.

You should focus on recognizing the authentic marks and also the difference between the recently made silver and antique silver. It is the patina and the quality that shows the difference.

I would recommend that you try to get a refund of the item as you recently bought it.

Regards,
Juke

[Silbersammler]

Hi Juke,
thanks a lot for your kind answer.
I can give it back, thats no problem.
Still I am disappointed, ony fakes that are sold here (90 % i can identify as fakes, here I had really hope that it is authentic).
Yes, russian silver is really difficult, I read here 2 years and am still not able to sort out fakes from authentic items.

Kind regards
Steffen

[Zolotnik]

Hi Silbersammler -

Juke is absolute right in his answer!

I can understand you very well: on one side Russian silver/enamel etc. is very fascinating - on the other side it is very dangerous because of the many ( getting better and better) fakes.
My advice: Start slow, learn as much as you can and if you are not 100 % sure - ask the forum before you buy! It is free...:-)Here you find enough experts for all kinds of Russian silver/enamel etc. Do not trust dealers - they either do not know or want to cheat.
I do not like to discuss why your object is a fake and how you recognize it...
My motto is known: I've never understood the urge to "learn" about fakes. It's a waste of time. Spend that energy learning about the real thing and you'll know the fakes when you see them because they won't look like the real thing. No matter how much you "learn" about fakes, you'll never know everything about them so it's literally an all-consuming time-suck that has no value since every day new fakes hit the market.

Regards
Zolotnik

[Silbersammler]

Hi Zolotnik,
you are right, but there is one problem: I have no experience with authenthic items, because I can not find them on the markets here. I believe, 99 % of the russian things here are fakes.
I have some books and can look pics in online-auctions and here in the forum, but this seems not effective enough to learn.
With the cross, I had my doubts, but the hallmarks looks not bad, the painting looks old ..... ok, the quality and the patina are not as expected from such a piece of 1856, but I had my hope .....
Yes, questions are free here and this forum is the best place in the www to learn about silver .... I am very grateful to all participants to share their knowledge so kind and generous.
Kind regards
Steffen

[Zolotnik]

Hi Silbersammler -

(admin edit - see Posting Requirements )

If you have several authentic pieces you will learn quickly.

BUT DON´T SPEND MONEY ON FAKES!

Regards
Zolotnik