18ct Gold Ring, please could anyone identify the maker's mark?

[CaitlinSLO]

Hello everyone,

I'm new here, so apologies if I've posted this in the wrong place!

I wondered if anyone might be able to help me with a ring I've inherited - it's been sitting in the bottom of my jewellery box for years!  Having done a little research, it seems to be a Gypsy-ring (I think) - it's 18ct, has the London Assay Office mark (leopard), and would seem to have been hallmarked in 1896, going by the letter A, and the style of the letter A.

The only thing I'm now stuck on is identifying the maker's mark.  I wondered if anyone might be able to help with this?  It seems to say '.W.W.' - the closest I've found is 'William Wilkinson', but their mark always seems to have 'LD' after the W's.  I've attached a picture here.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks in advance!  

Caitlin.

[sixgun]

Yes it is a London assay office set of marks - 18ct gold.
The year mark looks like  this is 1956 - you need to check the letter font but also the surround.

The 1896 year mark is this  the font looks virtually the same but the surround is different. The year letter has a surround which is flat at the bottom.

Not sure what the .WW. is

Edited March 3, 2022 by sixgun

[CaitlinSLO]

Hi again sixgun, and thanks for your thoughts.

I think what's confused me letter-wise, is the gold hallmark identification wizard I used online.  The pictures of the possible 'A's , and their surrounds, were not as clear as the ones you've included in your post - thanks for doing this.

To be honest, judging by its (very good) condition, it makes total sense that this ring would have been hallmarked in 1956, rather than 1896.

Perhaps this might make it easier to identify what the .WW. is?  I've been looking at Victorian Jewellers in London up until now...😬

[Mobius]

I can't find anything on the makers mark, but you were right about the date in the first place, it's 1896.

The date letter font isn't right for 1956 and the wavy bottomed date letter shape was used on silver, but the box with chamferred corners (as per your ring) was used for gold.

It's a bit of a tricky one because two different alternative marks are used here; The Crown and '18' have been split into two marks where it would have normally been a single mark (18 with a Crown above) and the Leopards head on your ring is in a box with chamferred corners which was an alternative mark used from 1896.

I fear you may never find out who the maker was, but I'll let you know if I find anything in my ref books.

Mobius.

 

 

[CaitlinSLO]

Hello Mobius, and thank you for your very informative reply, really appreciate it.

Interesting that you may think the maker might not be found - were there many jeweller's marks that were not well-documented in Victorian times?  There is another ring online I have found a picture of, which has the same mark, but unfortunately, it's not identified (here's a link):

https://www.antiquetrader.com/.image/c_limit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_564/MTc1MTIzMDA5NjgwNDUxMzk2/antique-ring-with-hallmark.webp

Thank you for saying you'd let me know if you find something! 

Caitlin.

[Mobius]

Hi, unfortunately the major reference book for silver and gold marks (Jackson's) only goes up to 1850 and by the late 1800s there were probably thousands of goldsmiths and silversmiths. You may only find the maker by trailing through loads of old dusty books!
Personally I wouldn't bother, it's not a famous maker so nobody really cares!

Mobius.

 

[sixgun]

21 hours ago, Mobius said:

I can't find anything on the makers mark, but you were right about the date in the first place, it's 1896.

The date letter font isn't right for 1956 and the wavy bottomed date letter shape was used on silver, but the box with chamfered corners (as per your ring) was used for gold.

Where are you getting this information?

i double checked for myself using https://www.gold-traders.co.uk/hallmarks/

These are the options given with this site - i didn't use this to decide on the year i originally gave. i agree the style of the ring looks quite old

 

Edited March 4, 2022 by sixgun

[Mobius]

Hi @sixgun

I'm getting this information from 25 years of dealing in antique silver and my many reference books. The site you used seems to be showing some hallmarks that were used for silver,  I've just run a known gold hallmark through the site and it incorrectly showed the Leopards head shape for silver.

The font used on the ring is definately the one 3 left from the one you selected, but that site isn't showing the correct date mark surround for gold.

Mobius.