Posted 12 years ago
metaldetec…
(1 item)
Hi,
New to this site. I have acquired a Japanese pipe from my Grandfather (he was a collector) who passed away. I am sure both ends are pure silver. I don't know much else about it's history. Can anyone out there share there two cents on it? And it's value?
As far as I can tell there are no markings or words etched into the silver.
The vast majority of Japanese silver is marked with the jun-gin mark, you'd have to have it tested with acid to be sure. Probably late 19th century, early 20th. They're becoming popular again.
As for value, this isn't a free appraisal website, you'll have to search eBay and other websites for comparable examples yourself.
If it was silver, even pure silver, you'd expect it to have some tarnish on it. I hope you didn't POLISH it.......... People bring me stuff all the time, thinking they're just cleaning up their antiques, they don't understand that they're removing over half the value by cleaning tarnished sterling.....
Nooooooooooooo, that is just not true, you can ruin ALL KINDS of antique sterling by removing the tarnish. The most you want to do to any piece is to bring out the highlights with a jeweler's rouge cloth, but its always best to leave the patina, or "French grey" as its sometimes called. I've been dealing antiques for 25 years, my parents for 40 before that, take my word for it.
I've never heard of anyone making homebrewed silver polish. You wouldn't need to, its not like its some special chemical formula, its just a fine abrasive. Its not caustic or acidic or anything. You can even use toothpaste or baking soda on a cloth, as long as the grit is an extremely fine grade.
A museum is not an auctionhouse or a retail store, all the items there are for display, and they RARELY leave a collection to go into the market ever again. If you were to completely remove all of the tarnish on say, a piece of 18th century holloware, the value would go down. We've been in retail for over 40 years Rob.
I said a jeweler's rouge CLOTH, which is actually a cloth. You can do a Google Images search to see what I'm talking about. I said that its best to just bring out the highlights, give it a light rub, but to leave the majority of it. I've never used toothpaste myself, but I've seen the results of it and there was no difference from something polished with rouge paste, the finish was not affected at all. How many years have you been cleaning silver Rob?
Well here's Merriam-Websters deffinition:
Patina: 1. A green or brown film on the surface of bronze or similar metals, produced by oxidation over a long period.
"Grace never uses dip cleaners on her silver jewelry because it completely strips the valuable patina that has built up over time."
Hey, that example agrees with me! Lol
Thank you all for the posts. I did clean it.... Bad move I guess. I used liquid silver polish and cotton balls. There was silver petina or french grey?? on it. I am sure it is solid silver. I did not use acid to test it, but i did put it to a magnet. I have also been selling silver for a while and can spot solid silver to plated.
Then why didn't Merriam-Webster say patina was the scratches on BRONZE? Does patina mean oxide on bronze, but scratches on silver? That doesn't make sense. It doesn't matter that we aren't talking about bronze and oxide specifically instead of silver and sulphide, its the same principal. I typed "silver patina" into Google and copied and pasted the way people have been using it. I didn't find any of those thousands of professionals who use the term to refer to anything other than the sulphide layer:
"Patina happens when jewelry has been exposed to air for a long time. The discoloration is due to oxidation. Antique jewelry will have this patina. So if it is a valuable or collectible piece don't clean it off!!!"
"Many artists use liver of sulphur (LOS) to create a black or grey patina on sterling."
"I recently purchased some vintage sterling silver flatware on ebay for my daughter and soon-to-be daughter in law. Both of the sellers had evidently dipped the silver in one of those harsh cleaning baths because all of it has lost its patina and has a stripped look. I have been trying to find a way to re-patina it. Is this possible? I came across an article by a silversmith that mentions using liver of sulphur."
"Patina is obtained by oxidizing the copper in sterling silver."
"PATINA: (Pa-tee-na) A finish or film on the surface of metal, generally caused by oxidation."
"Patina: Patina is the change of an object's surface layer that result from aging. Exposure to the air for an extended period of time oxidizes many metals, turning copper and bronze green, and gold reddish. Artificial patinas can be applied to newer objects by using acids or electrolytes."