Hints on Multi-Purpose Serving Pieces

We ran across an old brochure from Ross-Simons the other day that had some handy tips regarding using certain serving pieces for multiple purposes. We thought the information was worth posting here, especially with Thanksgiving just around the corner. The text is copied directly from their brochure. We added the pictures. Thanks, Ross-Simons!

Sugar Spoon... ideal for jellies, jams, condiments and sauces - as well as sugar.



Butter Spreader... serves as a perfect preserve spreader, cheese spreader or fruit knife, too.


Pierced Tablespoon... use alone to serve vegetables in their own juice - or combine with a cold meat fork for a handsome salad serving set.

Cold Meat Fork... for cold meats, cheese slices, chops, waffles, sliced tomatoes, spaghetti - and to match up with the pierced tablespoon for a salad serving set.

Tablespoon... perfect for serving vegetables, fruits, desserts, casseroles and stuffing.

Gravy Ladle... the correct way to serve gravy, creamed dishes, sauces, syrups - even cut up fruits.

Pie/Cake Server... slices and serves pies, cakes, pastries and fish.

Iced Beverage Spoon... You'll want these stirrers for iced tea, parfaits, sherbets, sodas - and retrieving food from tall jars.

Cocktail Fork... essential for seafood - and perfect for serving pickles, lemon slices and butter pats.

Send us an email or post a comment if you have other suggestions.

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U.S. Government Restriction on Pattern Pieces?

A blog reader sent in the following question:

I remember reading somewhere that the US government limited the number of pieces that could be made in any pattern. I believe I remember reading this was after the Victorian era because they created so many pieces. Is this true and if so what did they limit the number to?

No one in our group is aware of this. Can anyone out there help? Send an email or post a comment.

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Top 10 Most Popular Patterns of Sterling Flatware

This ought to get us in trouble!

Here's our opinion concerning the ten most popular sterling flatware patterns in terms of units still being purchased regularly. We have some "loose" statistics to back up our opinion but we don't have access to all sales data for new and used pieces. So, take it for what it's worth. It's just our opinion. The list is ordered more less by popularity as we see it but one could definitely argue that a particular pattern belongs higher or lower in the list.

• Chantilly by Gorham
• Francis I by Reed & Barton
• Prelude by International
• Repousse by Kirk-Stieff
• Old Master by Towle
• Royal Danish by international
• Grande Baroque by Wallace
• Strasbourg by Gorham
• Rose Point by Wallace
• Buttercup by Gorham

Please send us an email or post a comment if you have other ideas. We're going to post this list also in our Examiner.com column to see what arguments we can generate there.

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Information Request - Silver Flatware from Greece

We have been asked if we know anything about the flatware in the pictures. It's from Greece. The original owner lived in Greece many years ago.

We have no knowledge about this but if anyone out there knows anything about it, please post a comment or send us an email. For example, we would like to know pattern name, silver content, manufacturer, definition of the hallmark or anything else that will help the blog reader know more about this set.

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Inside a Hollow Handle Knife

After watching the YouTube video in the previous post, we decided to investigate the inside of a knife handle on our own. In the first picture is a fairly old Gorham Chantilly knife. We estimate that this knife is between 60 and 80 years old but that's just a guess. There was a crack in the blade so we didn't mind ripping it apart to see what was inside.


In the second and third pictures, you can see where we have peeled the sterling outer casing of the handle back a bit. You can see the round shaft of the blade embedded in epoxy inside the handle. We have knocked a bit of the epoxy away at this point.

The third and fourth pictures show the sterling casing with roughly half the epoxy removed. In the fourth picture, you can see a bit of the remaining epoxy in the lower portion of the handle.

The final picture shows the knife blade with the round extension normally embedded in epoxy. You can see indentations probably designed to help it grip the epoxy. There is a bit of epoxy laying beside the blade. This was taken from the tip of the handle. You can just make out some of the Chantilly design in the epoxy.

We weighed the sterling we removed from the knife. It was roughly 30% of the weight of the original knife. We don't know if that's a good working estimate for all such knives because construction techniques may differ.

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Example of Hollow Handle & Weighted Sterling

We ran across this YouTube video recently. It illustrates the construction of hollow handle sterling flatware and weighted candlesticks. It's not great quality but watch and listen carefully - you'll understand the basics. It's worth watching.

Refining Silver Flatware and Tableware

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Question About Ice Cream Forks

Ice cream fork and spoon from a 1914 Gorham
document describing the Chantilly pattern

A blog reader has sent us some questions about ice cream forks. Basically, she wants to know the history of such pieces and their status. For example, do sterling flatware manufacturers still make them and if not, when did they stop?

I don't have the detailed answers the reader seeks. We'll appreciate comments or emails from anyone who has facts on this topic. Thanks to any who respond.

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Extreme Case of Tarnish

We've discussed in several articles the effects of sulphur on sterling flatware resulting in tarnish. Here's an interesting case regarding more serious tarnish.

In the news media recently, there have been many reports regarding a problem with drywall material manufactured in China. It seems that the drywall emits a gas containing sulphur. Copper pipes and appliance components containing copper are being affected.

The web site, Chinese Drywall Complaint Center, contains information about the problem. We have no idea who actually manages the web site but the information seems reasonable.

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Uniformity Throughout the Years - NOT!

We've been in the sterling flatware business long enough to notice an annoying problem. Pieces made by the same manufacturer may not be uniform in size and weight over the years.

Here's a specific example. In the picture below is an oval soup spoon in one of our new favorite patterns, Old Maryland Engraved by Kirk-Steiff. We have two sets of this specific piece currently in our inventory that we obtained from different sources. The spoons are 6 5/8 inches long.

At first glance, the two sets appear identical. They both have the hallmark, "S. Kirk & Son Sterling". Upon closer inspection, it becomes obvious that they are not identical. The spoons in one set weigh about 36 grams each while the spoons in the other set each weigh about 48 grams, or 33% heavier than the lighter spoons! The handle of the lighter spoons appears thinner than the handle of the heavier spoons.

So, if you owned some spoons like this already and you later added to your set, you might not have identical spoons. Are your guests going to notice this? Probably not, but it is annoying that you can't depend upon uniformity even within the same piece in the same pattern.

We're guessing that the corporate buyouts of the Kirk name over the years have led to the slimming down of the pieces - to save money, thereby making a greater profit. We love this pattern and we hate to see discrepancies like this.

So, the moral of this story is - if you are trying to match existing pieces and you are a stickler for exact matches, consult with your selling sources so you understand the details about your potential purchase. Check all dimensions and the weight.

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Examiner.com Sterling Articles

This is to let you know that we now write the articles for the Sterling Silver section of Examiner.com. You can see all the articles at:

Examiner Sterling Silver Articles

We have to say that most of the information presented there duplicates what you will find on this blog. We are trying to find new readers through Examiner.com but wanted blog readers to know about it.


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Commodity Silver as an Investment

About once a week we receive some variation of the questions, "Is commodity silver a good investment?" and "Where is the price of silver headed?"

Although we track the price of commodity silver because of a general interest, we really do not have enough knowledge about the subject to offer any advice. We did discover this article on Wikipedia that gives some facts on the subject (primarily history): Silver as an Investment.

I do know that owning any precious metal can be cumbersome. If I was going to play in the commodity silver market, I would probably look at buying stock in silver mines or perhaps one of the Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) that focus on owning silver. This comment should not be considered as financial advice. Talk to experts and read everything you can about precious metal investing before jumping in.

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Patina in a Jar

We've mentioned in several posts that French gray and patina are desirable attributes that develop over time on sterling pieces. We've also talked about cleaners that remove these attributes resulting in a bland looking piece, in our opinion. Finally, we've suggested ways to restore patina and French gray in a shorter period of time than it takes under natural conditions.

Here's something we've not mentioned: Liver of Sulphur. This is a product that can quickly tarnish a sterling piece. We have never used it so we will not attempt to explain how to use it nor do we over any opinion regarding the pros and cons of its use.

Based on what we've read, the concept is simple but care must be taken to get just the effect you want. Here is a review article we found on the eBay web site that describes how to use this product: How to use Liver of Sulphur for Metal Patina. Do your own Google search - you'll find all sorts of reference articles.

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Saint Genesius Medal Cleaning Question

A reader sent us this question.

Jim, I have a round, Saint Genesius medal necklace, purchased about 1973. It is slightly larger than a quarter and about the same thickness. I believe it was purchased from a religious supplier…maybe from NYC???.

On the bottom is stamped “Sterling Creel” or “Sterling Greel”. No one seems to know what this is and I haven’t found anything on the Internet about it. The biggest reason I’m asking…aside from general curiosity…is that silver polishing cloths and solutions do not clean it. The only way I that has worked is to use a soft polishing wheel on my Dremel tool – on slow. I’ve only done this twice in 35 years because I know it’s removing silver as well as the tarnish. The tarnishing is extremely uneven. The relief image on the front seems to polish up a little, but the tarnish on the smooth back
doesn’t.

Any information or suggestions?

Thank you very much. This is THE MOST prized possession I have.

If anyone out there has some information about this, leave a comment or send us an email.

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Candelabra Identification Question

A reader named Jeffrey has asked for assistance in identifying the candelabra shown in these pictures. I am not familiar with the mark, "SA". If you have any ideas, please add your comment or send us an email.

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An Ad for Our Ads

In the right column of this blog you can find ads placed there automatically by Google. You only see two but there are actually ten. You can access the others with the up and down arrows. Ads also appear near the very bottom of the screen.

Google tries to place ads that relate to the content of the blog. If you are displaying the entire blog, you can count on the fact to 80% or more of the ads will relate to silver somehow. Many will be for sellers of sterling silver. If you are looking to buy, click on these ads to check out what's available and at what price. If you are looking to sell, click on the same ads and look for information regarding how to sell to the advertiser.

If you are displaying only a single blog entry, the ads may vary quite a bit. For example, if the article you are displaying talks about knives, you may see an ad for a seller of Bowie knives! So, for the best ad content, make sure you are displaying the entire blog.

Google also provides a search tool in the right column. Searching from this blog has some predefined search criteria relating to silver. You'll find more ads among the displayed search results, also silver related.

We encourage you to check out these ads if you are looking for anything related to silver.

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An "Eggciting" Tarnish Experiment

We've mentioned several times the effect certain foods can have on sterling. We decided to have a little fun with one of the primary culprits - eggs! We boiled an egg, cut it into small pieces and placed them in a bowl. We placed a silver plate piece next to the bowl and kept them overnight inside a cake container. You see the before and after pictures below along with a picture of the cake container.

BEFORE

AFTER

The "after" picture really does not show how dramatic the change was. The sulphur in the egg caused significant tarnish in just 12 hours. The moral of this story is to wash your sterling soon after being exposed to eggs!

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How Much Silver is in a Sterling Knife?

A blog reader recently emailed us some questions about sterling knives that we can't answer. His basic question was, "How can you determine how much silver is actually in a sterling knife?" Here are the two basic problems we all face in trying to address this question:

• Knife blades almost always are NOT sterling (in modern times, there are made of stainless steel)
• Knife handles are filled with a cement of some type to hold the blade to the handle

Without taking the knife apart, it's difficult to determine the weight of actual silver content.

This reader thought that there might be some reference sources that could help determine silver content for different patterns and manufacturers.

We would really like to hear from readers knowledgeable about this subject.

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Effect of Silver on Your Health

We recently received an email from a reader regarding a sterling water pitcher she was using. The water from the pitcher had a slight metallic taste, which she actually liked, but she was wondering about health issues. I have summarized her comments into the questions, adding some of my own:

• Could silver (or some other metal) be leeching into the water while it sits in the pitcher?
• If silver is in the water, is it bad for your health?
• Or does it have some positive impact?

We don't feel competent to answer any of these questions definitively. However, we'll offer some comments and pose some questions of our own.

1. Could there be something in the local water supply that's reacting with the sterling? Try pouring some bottled purified water into the pitcher and then drink it. Maybe you should rinse the pitcher thoroughly with purified water as a first step. Does it still taste metallic?
2. Have the tap water chemically analyzed and have some tap water that's been sitting in the pitcher for an hour or so analyzed to see if there is a difference.
3. Invite some neighbors in for a blind taste test to see if they can pick the water from the pitcher!
4. Silver in high enough concentration is bad for you. In severe cases, it will make your skin turn permanently gray. Really!
5. We have heard of health supplements containing silver but we can't comment on their effectiveness for anything and we would not ingest them ourselves.

This is a new topic for us and we hope readers who have more information will post comments or send us emails.

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"Still in Sealed Plastic Sleeve"

We are often asked variations of this question by people interested in selling, "I have some sterling flatware pieces still new in their unopened plastic sleeves. Can I get a higher price for these pieces?" Believe it or not, my answer is, "Yes, but not nearly as much as you think!"

We can't explain it but the marketplace seems to lump all "used" pieces together, even those pieces still in plastic. Maybe it's like the "driving the car off the showroom floor" devaluation syndrome. Here are some other possibilities for the phenomenon:

• Buyers don't trust sellers - maybe the bags have been resealed, not a difficult task


• Poor storage causes damage - abrasions, bends and dents can develop from rough handling during storage even though the pieces are in plastic


• Not all plastic bags remain 100% airtight - we have seen tarnish on pieces that look to be in original sealed bags

So, don't automatically expect to get prices near retail for your sealed pieces. Sorry!

Check the pictures below. They are all of the same fork in what seems to be the original sealed plastic sleeve.

It's hard to tell from the pictures because of the sleeve itself but you can see tiny specks of tarnish at the base of the tines.

Tarnish is really obvious around the words, "Gorham Sterling".

Tarnish is not a serious problem and this fork will polish out to be beautiful. But, technically, it will no longer be "new".

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Need Strasbourg Identification Help

A blog reader has requested help in identifying this Gorham Strasbourg spoon. It's nine inches long with a bowl that's 2 3/4 inches long. Does anyone out there know the proper name of this piece? If so, add a comment to this post or send us an email.


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