what is it?
Coopergord
I have just adopted a bunch of necklaces and bracelets that
are silver in color but I have no clue what metal they are. They have a
small metal tag around the clasp that says:
14KWP
not being schooled in metals I have no clue what this means. I would be
very happy if someone could forgive my illiteracy and tell me what it
means. Thanks
Regis Galbach
I beleive the 14KWP means 14 carat white gold plated. Although I'm
not sure what's inside, there is a fair chance that the base is sterling.
If they look good, enjoy them.
Regis .
PeterWRowe
In article <4s660e$1...@newsbf02.news.aol.com>, coope...@aol.com
(Coopergord) writes:
I'd have to see that mark or the necklaces to be sure, but I'd guess they
are 14K white gold, with the WP being the trademark of the maker. While
it's attractive to suggest that the WP might mean "white plated", that's
not a standard marking at all. Normally, plated goods might say HGE
(heavy gold electroplate) or have a fraction, such as 1/20, then the 14K
or other quality, and then a RGP for "rolled gold plate".
There is, however, an easy way to tell what you've got, if you have a
little bit of nitric acid and a small file somewhere. find an out of the
way place where a small notch won't damage the strength of the piece, and
file a small notch with your file. Then apply a tiny drop of nitric acid.
If it's white gold, there should be either no reaction, or it might
slowly turn brownish. The acid drop will stay clear. If it's silver, the
base metal along with the acid drop will turn cloudy grey. If it's base
metal, plated in white gold or rhodium etc, then the base metal is usually
a copper family metal such as brass or nickle silver, and the acid drop
will bubble up vigorously, turning bright green.
If you don't happen to have these materials, any decent jeweler could do
it for you easily enough.
Hope this helps.
Peter Rowe
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peter W. Rowe M.F.A., G.G.
Commercial and custom jeweler and metalsmith
Graduate Gemologist and Lapidary
Opinions expressed here are solely my own....... and subject to change
according to my mood and the state of my art ....
No extra charge for smiles and friendship to those who return it
'Cause life's too short and if we're not having fun, then why be here?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PeterWRowe
In article <4s6o61$j...@mtinsc01-mgt.ops.worldnet.att.net>, Regis Galbach
<reg...@worldnet.att.net> writes:
>
>I beleive the 14KWP means 14 carat white gold plated. Although I'm
>not sure what's inside, there is a fair chance that the base is sterling.
I seriously doubt that. Sterling is usually marked sterling, and plated
in rhodium, if at all, not in white gold. It aught to be either a solid
white gold, or a white gold plate over base metal. I'd suspect solid
white gold first...
Jamie Foster
A "P" will often indicate "plumb." 14KP would stand for 14K gold plumb, which I understand is a slightly higher/better standard than just 14K. These are solid pieces.
As indicated in other posts, gold plated stamps usually have both a G and a P, as in "14K GP."
The 1/20 marking is for goldfilled, also marked GF sometimes. Goldfilled is better (more gold) than goldplated. While goldplated has a layer of gold only a few molecules thick (very tiny), goldfilled indidcates that at least 1/20 of the total thickness is the karat gold indicated.
Hope this helps, too!
Jamie
jamie...@fix.net
C&C Jewelers Cypress Landing Shops
http://www.ccjewelers.com http://www.clshops.com
580 Cypress #N4, Pismo Beach, CA 93449 P.O. Box 1132, Pismo Beach, CA 93448
(805) 773-0110 FAX (both) 805-773-4288 (805) 773-0101
Elisa Lantz
Seems to me that the 14KWP would mean 14 karat white plumb--being at
least 14K exactly or more (that's what just 14KP means.)
Elisa
Elizabeth C Wilkinson
I think that the "P" refers to "plumb" which is an older usage indicating that
the article is indeed made of 14 K gold, not 13 1/2 or some lesser karat (since
law allows some leeway in the actual content). Murray Bovin's book has some info
on quality stamping but I'm not sure how current it is.
Elizabeth Wilkinson
Dan
> I have just adopted a bunch of necklaces and bracelets that
> are silver in color but I have no clue what metal they are. They have a
> small metal tag around the clasp that says:
> 14KWP
> not being schooled in metals I have no clue what this means. I would be
> very happy if someone could forgive my illiteracy and tell me what it
> means. Thanks
I've not seen that exact designation, but most likely it stands for
"14 karat White Plumb"
meaning that the metal is EXACTLY 14 karat white gold. If the tag had
read simply 14K or 14KW then the metal may not be exactly 14 Karat. It
could be a fraction over or a fraction under the Karatage stamped.