Have you ever seen a silver plated case before?

I had not, that is until I got one on ebay a while back. I was storing some cases and remembered that I wanted to know if anyone else had ever seen one, or has one.

Mine is a Crescent case, and I should have known by the # 3 in a box on the case.

It's still ok, for the beat up old movement I wanted to put in it. At least two old nothing parts are going to go together and "Look" like a watch. hehehe

Oh, and it has a small place where the silver has come off, and that's how I knew.

You guys have any?

Hi Sheila,

I say you might want to do some cleaning, polishing and detailing. My long-held belief is that Sterling Silver is not plated but rather silver with other alloys added in order to provide strength such as one might find desirable in eating utensils and would be quite logical with watch cases. Certain additives can help reduce tarnishing as well, another desirable trait. Although I do not always place a lot of stock in referencing Wikipedia the explanation I found there is in line with what I have always believed to be correct so here it is for what it is worth...

CLICK FOR: "Sterling Silver" information in "Wikipedia"

Hope this helps to figure out what you really have, perhaps the "3" is a three-ounce marking?

Lindell

Lindell,
Before now, I would have sworn the same thing, however this time, there is a clear missing piece of silver, and another exposed metel under it. It looks more gold than copper under the silver, but it is another metal for sure.

I have never seen anything like it before, and I'm having a hard time getting a picture of it, but am working on it. I'm sure many would like to see it.

I know silver and it's elements, and the different metals that were used like silveroid, etc., and I know a little about spating, and it looks exactly like the old Sheffield plating problems in plated items they made in the 1830's and 1840's

When I get a clear picture, I will post it.

Interesting, I can't wait to see if this is really plate, seems impossible to me, but who knows.

As far as the # 3 goes, I really don't know.
I though it had something to do with the measure of the purity of the silver used. ??????

All the joints look solid, and the groove for a lever is solid too, so this is confusing. At first I thought it must be glue or something, but after cleaning it a little, and trying to remove it, it's still there.
It has one of those rings around the inside, and it's a pull out case too, and everything looks solid. So now I will have to take something to "Scrape" it some.

I'll let you know.

Sheila,
I'm with Lindell on this one. I believe your case is sterling silver. I know the number 3 you refer to means the case weighs 3 ounces.
The stain you see could be an acid mark made from someone testing it for silver?
Brian C.

Brian,
Good point about the acid mark.
I have always depended on the past information about these cases, and I sure don't want to know it's anything else.
I always thought the numbers were weight marks too, and I'm confident it is.

I have cleaned, and softly scraped the spot, and worked on it, but it's still there. Glue or other material would have given in by now, so it may be an acid mark.

I have a few of these, and I like them, their really nice cases, so getting to the bottom of this is now an obsession.

The case is soaking, and I will see later tonight if it helped.

If anyone has a suggestion on what else I can use to clean it "to the bone" let me know.

Thank you,

Sheila,

A little further into Lindells post was this set off instuctions for removing tarnish from Sterling Silver....might be worth a try.

Steve

Tarnish Removal