Gorham Sterling--what does THAT mean?

[terriroz]

Hi,
Can anyone help me? I'm not a collector and know nothing about date marks. I'm looking at a piece of jewelry and all it says, that I can tell, is "Gorham Sterling." Does that designate a date of manufacture in any way? Thanks so much!
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[Kit]

From the information you provided, you can assume three things:
(a) the piece is American-made, as it lacks any other information;
(b) the piece was made by -or for- the Gorham Company; and
(c) 925 parts of its 1000 parts metal content is silver, the standard for Sterling silver.
Nothing more, I'm afraid.

I hope you found this helpful.
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[abel]

I've been wondering about Terrioz' question, too. Thanks, Kit, for simplifying the issue. Does anyone know WHEN Gorham used "Gorham sterling" alone--no anchor, lion, G--to mark flatware? This would really help me date some of my pieces.

Hopefully, Nina
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[cathym]

I'm wondering exactly the same thing. when and for which pieces did they only put Gorham and Sterling?
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