Gold! or not Gold! Interesting box

garyh3 · Post by **garyh3** » Sun May 07, 2006 4:46 pm

Hi Another interesting item left to me. It says K 24 but thats all the marks on it. Looks Asian.!!!

Maybe the inlay would be gold??

Any information appreciated.

Best wishes

Garyh3

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georgiansilver · Post by **georgiansilver** » Sun May 07, 2006 6:06 pm

What a lovely box and yes the overlay will be gold but it may be worthwhile getting the body tested at a jewellers or if you have a friend with a testing kit........ Best wishes, Mike.
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garyh3 · Post by **garyh3** » Mon May 08, 2006 6:40 am

Thanks georgiansilver I will get it tested.

The box is heavy but not 24k heavy. Any idea as to when it was made 1900's maybe or later?

The inlay is very fine and goes all around the box

best wishes

Garyh3
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milly molly · Post by **milly molly** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 3:02 pm

The box looks to be Japanese Damascene. Usually the inlay is gold and will be marked with a karat mark. It looks as though this would be worth testing the body of the box, though. Good luck!
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SilverSurfer · Post by **SilverSurfer** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 11:58 am

Nice piece! I doubt it is solid gold, and believe the 24kt refers only to the gold overlay/inlay. My best guess is the the exterior metal on the box is shakudo, a typically Japanese alloy of about 96% copper and 4% gold. Properly patinated, this alloy shows a stong black color, ranging from a deep purple black (preferred) to a greenish dark gray when the gold content is low, it was not well patinated, or the original patination has deteriorated.

SS
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