8/10/19 Report - Earrings: Materials and Some Clues for Determing Age. Diamonds and Other clear Genstones.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Nice Crystal On Drop Earring.

I recently posted a photo of what I believe to be a vintage button featuring a clear stone.  Here is   very nice large clear crystal (if that is what I can call it) from a vintage earring that I once found.

Clear stones are a bit of a problem for me.  You always want to know what kind of stone you have, but it can be difficult to tell if you have a diamond, zircon, or any of a variety of other types of clear stones, unless you have a gem tester or take the item to a jewelry store or pawn shop to be tested.

This earring seems to me to be vintage.  Other than its overall look, notice the screw type closure.  Those were invented in the early 1900s and used a lot until the clip-ons were invented around 1930.

Closure For Same Earring.

This one is signed, but I haven't yet been able to make out the signature.

In the Renaissance era earrings were not popular because women's hairstyles obscured the ears, however they became more popular in the 17th century.  According to Deagan's book, Artifacts of the Spanish Colonies of Florida and the Caribbean, 1500 - 1800, earrings have been found at Spanish Colonial New World archaeological sites, especially 17th century sites. The long dangling type are more frequent from 18th century sites.  Many of those were made of copper alloy or gold and featured faceted glass, or paste, while others featured pearls, turquoise or emeralds.  Several gold drop-earrings have been found on 1715 Fleet wreck sites.

The closure can provide a clue to the age of an earring.  In the early 20th century ear piercing was not in fashion, so screw and clipon earrings were heavily used until piercing once again became popular in the 1970s.

17th and 18th century earrings were usually attached by a simple curved wire.  Similar wire hooks are still used today so that alone doesn't help much.

Here is an example I found on a Treasure Coast shipwreck beach, but there is no evidence that it is very old.  It could be quite modern.  There are no definitive marks, and the design is very basic and common.

I have found one almost exactly like one shown in the Deagan book on page 164 (figure 6.12).

When it comes to clear stones, there are a variety of methods or tests you can do yourself to see if you might have a diamond.

Of course the easiest thing is to take it to a jewelry store or pawn shop and have them test it.

Here is a link to a web site that lists 25 different clear gemstones that are used in jewelry.  Of course, it includes diamonds, zircons, white sapphire, spinel and much more.

Simulated gemstones are not new.  Paste, made from glass, goes back to Ancient Egypt.

The Rhine River was filled with quartz pebbles that were used in jewelry. That is why they are called Rhinestones. Eventually the natural glass pebbles were depleted.

In 1891 Swarovski invented a machine that could mechanically cut and facet glass. He began making rhinestones with a 32% high lead content with great refraction.   He also came up with a new kind of plating that for plating silver and gold onto the backs of the crystals.

I plan to add to this content some other day.

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Still nothing of interest on the National Hurricane Center web site.ast.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

3/18/18 Report - Tips for Estimating the Date of Jewelry. SB804 and HB631. Five Days of Detecting Back In The Day.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Source: MyClassicJewelry.com link below.

I often get emails asking if finds might be old, and we try to identify and date finds all the time.  When it comes to jewelry, it is very difficult to provide an age for many items.  Many jewelry designs and functional features have been used or centuries.  Nonetheless, there are some things you can look for that might help you narrow down the age of an item.

I found one very helpful web site on vintage and antique jewelry that presents some very useful information.  One illustration from that web site can be seen above.  You can see different clasp types from three different periods.

Here is the link for more of that web site.

https://www.myclassicjewelry.com/blog/vintage-jewelry-hardware/

There are other good web sites on the subject.  The following list came from a good web site on necklace clasps.

There is more on that web site.  The above is just a small sample.

Here is that link.

http://blogs.houseofgems.com/index.php/2014/10/dating-vintage-necklaces-by-their-clasps/

I"m sure you can find other good web sites that can help you date jewelry finds.

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In a previous post I referred to an article about Florida SB 804, which, according to the article, would allow beach-front property owners to restrict public access to the beach in front of their property.

See http://www.mynews13.com/content/news/cfnews13/news/article.html/content/news/articles/cfn/2018/3/11/residents_fighting_b.html.

After originally posting that article, I was told by a trusted source that the bill wouldn't do what the article claimed.  Then I received more emails about the danger of the bill.  Not wanting to become either a community organizer or legal analyst, and not being able to decisively unravel or provide a definitive conclusion to the matter, I'll provide just a few comments today and then get back to the normal business of this blog.

Among the things I was was told is that SB804 was “tabled, but that a similar bill, HB631, was on the Governor's desk.  After looking at the text of HB631, and without being able to determine the legal meaning of many of the terms for myself, here is what I decided to do.  I contacted the Florida representative for my district and sent him an email asking for clarification on HB631 and told him I was strongly opposed to any legislation that would restrict public access to the beaches.  That seems to cover it for me regardless of what SB804 or HB631 says or doesn't say.  I expect his interpretation, if received, will be skewed according to his political leaning, so that will be of limited value, but I did express my feelings.   Now it is up to you.

This post will replace any previous comments I made on the subject and will most likely be my complete and final post on the bills.

Here is a link you can use to find your Florida government representatives.

MyFloridaHouse.gov.

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I've talked about my old detecting records before.  I just noticed an interesting five day span in which I found five gold rings at four different locations.  I must have had some time off.

On 5/26/89 on Lower Matecume Key I found 14K band marked 1988.  Someone didn't have that one long.  I was using a modified Nautilus 571 at the time.  That was one of my all-time favorite detectors.

On 5/27 there was a 16 dwt 1970 U. M. class ring found at Crandon Park and a interlocking silver and gold rings.  You could usually find some gold there but it wasn't usually of high quality.

On 5/28 the find was thin gold ring with the initial J at Bill Baggs park.

On 5//29 it was a gold ring with small diamond found at Jupiter Inlet Park.

On 5/30 the find was a 1967 class ring (didn't record the school).  I find it strange that I made the hour long trip to Jupiter two days in a row.  The conditions there must have looked OK.

None of those days was big, but each one produced a little gold.  It looks like I was ranging farther than usual for some reason.  The only day of the five that I remember the finds is 5//27.  I remember exactly where those finds were made.  The life guard stopped me after less than an hour of detecting.  He said that detecting wasn't allowed in the park, so I put my detector back in the car and left.
However, the next day or so, I called the Dade County Parks Department, and they told me that they were going to lift the detecting ban at the park very shortly.  And they did. 

I also talked to them once about a beach club on Key Biscayne that was telling me I couldn't detect in front of the club.  The county told me that I had every right to use the beach back to the erosion control markers.  That sand is paid for by the tax-payers and the tax-payers should remember that.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net