De Hoog Silver ??

[kiwichef]

Hello,
I was wondering if anyone knows about De Hoog Silver smith. The item I have is stamped 90, De Hoog and the letter B.
The piece has been x-rayed and is solid silver and not silver plate.
Any information about the maker or country would be great.





Thanks Tristan

[amena]

I've never heard about the test of silver with x-rays.
Some time ago someone told me about an electronic tester for silver, but the dealers for goldsmiths and silversmiths who I contacted did not know anything.
Does anyone have information on the matter?
Thanks
Amena

[agphile]

Try a search for x ray fluorescence testing. But it can be quite expensive if you have to use the services of a scientific laboratory.

[oel]

Hi Amena,

Please read and see links;
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=27186"
X-ray can reveal if an item is plated but does say nothing about the base material used; precious or non precious metal, so X-ray always in combination with a silver test (acid test or other method).

Oel

[amena]

Thanks to both
Thus this test verifies only the composition of the surface layer, and therefore does not guarantee that the object of kiwichef is made of solid silver

[oel]

X-ray’s able us to ‘look’ inside a metal object and if plated we discover a ‘skin’ hiding the base metal, if not plated we look at the solid base metal and perhaps discover hollows but the X-ray does not tell us anything about the sort of alloy/metals used . To determine precious or non- precious we have to perform other test, like the Specific Gravity method or acid tests.

Oel

[agphile]

If an item is not plated x ray fluorescence testing will actually reveal what the composition of the alloy is. It can also revea if the object is plated but as Oel says I think it probably cannot analyse the metal beteneath a layer of plate.

[oel]

Hi Agphile,

Yes, a ‘simple’ X-ray/scan could reveal if an item is plated. A high-tech X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (XRF) for compositions of precious metal alloys only reliable if done &“read”by experts.
http://www.hallmarking.com/hallmarking/assaying"

Best,

Oel.