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Another Mystery "heirloom"



 
 
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  #1  
Old October 25th 04, 02:46 AM
Jack Schmidling
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Default Another Mystery "heirloom"

I have a carving set passed on by my mother from her mother's silver
anniversary. She was always proud of this beautiful silver set and we never
doubted her.

Upon close inspection, it appears to be made from a single piece of metal.
There is no visible joint between handle and blade and the entire knife
(blade and handel) is magnetic, i.e. sticks to one.

The legend on the blade says Rockerford SP Co, Waranted 12 DWT.

I think we went through this before but I can not recall what the 12 DWT
means other than the obvious. 12 DWT per what?

js

--
PHOTO OF THE WEEK: http://schmidling.netfirms.com/pow.htm
Astronomy, Beer, Cheese, Gems, Sausage, http://schmidling.netfirms.com



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  #2  
Old October 25th 04, 04:06 PM
Naja
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Jack Schmidling wrote in message
. ..
I have a carving set passed on by my mother from her mother's silver
anniversary. She was always proud of this beautiful silver set and we never
doubted her.

Upon close inspection, it appears to be made from a single piece of metal.
There is no visible joint between handle and blade and the entire knife
(blade and handel) is magnetic, i.e. sticks to one.

The legend on the blade says Rockerford SP Co, Waranted 12 DWT.

I think we went through this before but I can not recall what the 12 DWT
means other than the obvious. 12 DWT per what?

js


Dwt means pennyweight, a measure of silver. 12 pennyweight is 3/4 of
an ounce which is 16 pennyweight

Regards

Santosh

**[[moderator's note: A slight correction, Santosh. a troy ounce contains 20
pennyweight, not 16. -- pwr ]]**
  #3  
Old October 25th 04, 04:06 PM
Ted Frater
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Jack Schmidling wrote:
I have a carving set passed on by my mother from her mother's silver
anniversary. She was always proud of this beautiful silver set and we never
doubted her.

Upon close inspection, it appears to be made from a single piece of metal.
There is no visible joint between handle and blade and the entire knife
(blade and handel) is magnetic, i.e. sticks to one.

The legend on the blade says Rockerford SP Co, Waranted 12 DWT.

I think we went through this before but I can not recall what the 12 DWT
means other than the obvious. 12 DWT per what?

js

the 12DWT stands for 12 penny weights.
Of what you ask?
of silver deposited by electroplating. this could be 12 dwts per dozen
knives not per individual knife.
your check with a magnet will not tell the whole story as the blade
will be steel, with an iron or steel tang up inside thwe handle. the
handle will most probabaly be a hollow 2 part nickel silver stamping,
being a 5 to 10 % nickel 30 % zinc the rest copper
AS for the join, it will be there but covered by the silver plating.
the maker doesnt ring a bell amongst the Sheffield flatware list of makers.
Have you googled the maker? sounds a USA one.
  #4  
Old October 25th 04, 04:06 PM
Judy Shaw
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12 pennyweight of silver, plated.
Judy Shaw



"Jack Schmidling" wrote in message
news
I have a carving set passed on by my mother from her mother's silver
anniversary. She was always proud of this beautiful silver set and we
never
doubted her.

Upon close inspection, it appears to be made from a single piece of metal.
There is no visible joint between handle and blade and the entire knife
(blade and handel) is magnetic, i.e. sticks to one.

The legend on the blade says Rockerford SP Co, Waranted 12 DWT.

I think we went through this before but I can not recall what the 12 DWT
means other than the obvious. 12 DWT per what?

js

--
PHOTO OF THE WEEK: http://schmidling.netfirms.com/pow.htm
Astronomy, Beer, Cheese, Gems, Sausage, http://schmidling.netfirms.com




  #5  
Old October 26th 04, 03:42 AM
Jack Schmidling
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"Ted Frater"

the 12DWT stands for 12 penny weights.
Of what you ask?
of silver deposited by electroplating. this could be 12 dwts per dozen
knives not per individual knife....



Well, what is the point in putting it on the knife if it has no standard
meaning? It might as well say 16 Tons and make it worthwhile.

your check with a magnet will not tell the whole story as the blade
will be steel, with an iron or steel tang up inside thwe handle. the
handle will most probabaly be a hollow 2 part nickel silver stamping,
being a 5 to 10 % nickel 30 % zinc the rest copper...


I guess I didn't make it clear but the handle is also magnetic and appears
to be solid and of the same material at the blade. If it were just the tang
inside some non magnetic metal, the magnetic pull difference would be
obvious.

AS for the join, it will be there but covered by the silver plating.

the maker doesnt ring a bell amongst the Sheffield flatware list of makers.
Have you googled the maker? sounds a USA one.

Yes but found only resellers of stuff made by them and no address of origin.

js


--
PHOTO OF THE WEEK: http://schmidling.netfirms.com/pow.htm
Astronomy, Beer, Cheese, Gems, Sausage, http://schmidling.netfirms.com




  #6  
Old October 29th 04, 01:42 AM
poorboy
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"Jack Schmidling" wrote in message

I have a carving set passed on by my mother from her mother's silver
anniversary. She was always proud of this beautiful silver set and we

never
doubted her.

Upon close inspection, it appears to be made from a single piece of metal.
There is no visible joint between handle and blade and the entire knife
(blade and handel) is magnetic, i.e. sticks to one.

The legend on the blade says Rockerford SP Co, Waranted 12 DWT.



Could this be the "Rockford" Silver Plate Company?

http://www.abesilverman.com/A558.html

History of company towards bottom of page.



I think we went through this before but I can not recall what the 12 DWT
means other than the obvious. 12 DWT per what?

js


  #7  
Old October 29th 04, 07:46 AM
Jack Schmidling
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"poorboy"
Could this be the "Rockford" Silver Plate Company?

http://www.abesilverman.com/A558.html

History of company towards bottom of page.


That's the place and so happens that Rockford is about 30 miles west of me.

But back to the bacic qustion that started it all....

What does 12 DWT mean as part of a hallmark of plated silver.

js


--
PHOTO OF THE WEEK: http://schmidling.netfirms.com/pow.htm
Astronomy, Beer, Cheese, Gems, Sausage, http://schmidling.netfirms.com





  #8  
Old October 29th 04, 07:57 AM
Peter W.. Rowe,
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Default

On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 23:45:22 -0700, in ¸õ Jack Schmidling wrote:

But back to the bacic qustion that started it all....

What does 12 DWT mean as part of a hallmark of plated silver.


Well, that's the 64 dollar question, Jack. The trouble is, so far as I know, such a
marking has no standard meaning as part of a hallmark, or if it does, non of my
references mentions such a marking. That means it's a mark peculiar perhaps to that
manufacturer. Just what it means could be anyone's guess. The basic meaning of the
term is easy enough. DWT means pennyweight, and 12 pennyweight is 12/20ths of an
ounce. That too, means little, since it's not a particularly standard proportion
for much of anything that I know of. While it might have been some mark used by more
than one manufacturer, it does not appear to be a part of any standardized or legal
framework marking system that I can discern. Much the same as an object marked in a
certain number of grams, so far as it's literal meaning, but there is nothing in that
mark that gives it further meaning. As an example of what might mean more, in gold
filled items, one often sees markings like 1/20 12K gold filled. That indicates that
1/20th of the item, usually by weight, consists of 12K gold in the form of a surface
bonded layer on either one or both sides. The mark doesn't detail that the gold is a
surface layer, it just detals the percentage of the whole, and the quality of that
percentage. One needs to know that it refers to that surface layer. Your marking
may have some similar meaning, but unlike that gold filled marking, this one doesn't
seem to be standard enough to have deserved a note in the references I've got, and
since the mark doesn't say 12 dwt of what, or per what other unit, such as dozen
items, or pound of items, etc, then who knows what it means.

I'd suggest not spending more time on that mark, but rather spend it trying to figure
out what you've actually got. If you find a small notch or groove, perhaps damage of
some sort that cuts into or better, through, the surface of silver to what's
underneath, then applications of various acids to that notch and observing the
reactions thereto, can give you an idea of what you've actually got. If there is no
existing such notch, a small file can produce one. Be sure you don't mind the damage
this causes, before you do it.

The other option might be holding off until you are somewhere where you might have
access to a knowledgeable antiques dealer, who might know on sight, what it is.
Easier to evaluate the thing when it's in your hand, than when it's described in a
news message...

cheers

Peter
  #9  
Old October 29th 04, 04:27 PM
Jack Schmidling
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"Peter W.. Rowe,"

Well, that's the 64 dollar question, Jack. The trouble is, so far as I

know, such a
marking has no standard meaning as part of a hallmark....


Ah... so. I googled for Rockford and found lots of stuff for sale and many
of them had this mark. It seemed reasonable to assume that it was a
standard and so I posed the question.

I'd suggest not spending more time on that mark, but rather spend it

trying to figure
out what you've actually got.....


I am pretty sure I know what I got as the magnet tells (enough) all. It was
the mark that I wanted to understand.

The strange answers I received are now explained by yours. Sometimes, "I
don't know" is a really useful answer, especially coming from an expert.

I am adding it to my project list to make new handles for them.

js


--
PHOTO OF THE WEEK: http://schmidling.netfirms.com/pow.htm
Astronomy, Beer, Cheese, Gems, Sausage, http://schmidling.netfirms.com







  #10  
Old October 29th 04, 04:27 PM
Abrasha
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Jack Schmidling wrote:


But back to the bacic qustion that started it all....

What does 12 DWT mean as part of a hallmark of plated silver.

js



Contact Bonhams & Buttrerfield and ask them your question. They will most
likely have an answer.

http://www.butterfields.com/contact/...ecialists.html

go down to "Silver & Objets de Vertu". Email or phone.

Abrasha
http://www.abrasha.com
 




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