SS TK Ring with Weird Engraving

[remss]

How do you polish like that ?

[Glenn66]

How do you polish like that ?

I use a professional jewellery cloth

[Mark4321]

I don't care

Exactly. Opinions, opinions.
I think an expert ASSESSMENT on originality is important, for obvious reasons.
But OPINIONS a person might have about the aesthetics of a piece they should keep to themselves.

Obviously, these pieces are valuable, important, 'precious', to the owner. So if someone should happen to think that they are 'cheap, ugly, silly, stupid, whatever, then they certainly have the right to that opinion, but this is quite completely a question of taste.

And seeing that voicing a derogatory remark like that about someone's favorite ring might potentially diminish their joy that they find in it, I think it would be good form and etiquette to keep that opinion to ones self.

That's MY opinion.
Mark

[Glenn66]

Well put, Mark.

Actually I haven't gotten onto my favorite ring yet

[jamoros]

Wow Glenn, that is TOP, very nice ring indeed, no wander why this is your favourite. Excellent thread this one and it seems that there is some way to go yet

Well put, Mark.

Actually I haven't gotten onto my favorite ring yet

[Wagriff]

Actually...with the nature of Silver and all, of Course, most rings did not come with a shiny polish, as silver will tarnish almost right away if it sits for any bit of time or so. However, when Worn, silver naturally polishes Itself. Such a thing is evident when you have a solid silver flatware set that you use every day. The pieces that are handled stay bright and attractive and the extra serving pieces that are Not used on a daily basis quickly turn black with tarnish and need to be polished before they can be called upon for use again. And, when a person does wear basically Any jewelry-whether it be silver, gold, or base metal, they generally find themselves rubbing and wiping on it to Keep it shined up so as to stand out and catch the other people's eyes. Not really much point of wearing a nice ring, if no one ever notices it, is there? And, as far as the jewelers who sold these rings, generally, when Sizing occurred, it was fairly basic practice, to buff them up afterwards, as they had just applied Heat to it to solder the band which discolored it, so, yes-when you purchased such a ring, it was, indeed, polished when you finally took it with you. When brought home as souvenirs after the war's end by GI's and the rest, the rings usually sat in their junk boxes and dresser drawers and naturally dulled back down and lost whatever luster they had gained when their original owners had worn them, so by the time they are seen next by people, they had reverted to the ,by now, commonly seen tarnished ugly appearances again of unhandled silver.
Unfortunately, though, silver is a Soft metal, so any post-war polishing should be kept to an only occasional practice, as doing so will eventually wear down the details and design works on them over time. Look at the Honor rings and such that were worn for just a short number of years-on some of them, you can't even make out much details at all anymore-they are almost slick and smooth now. With My rings, I give them a nice initial polish and then set them on the shelf, giving them only a cursory wipe or 2 with a jeweler's cloth to keep them looking spiffy. Nothing lasts forever, but with care,silver rings from the TR era should last more than long enough for most collector's lifetimes.

[Mark4321]

.. Nothing lasts forever, but with care,silver rings from the TR era should last more than long enough for most collector's lifetimes.

OR longer! They say die struck rings are 33% denser than cast pieces, and last much longer, so they're perfect heirlooms! :-)
Mark

[Wagriff]

Like I said, Mark-silver does wear very quickly. Some of the SS Honor rings-which were made by Otto Gahr from excellent quality silver and were stamped-now resemble plain wedding rings with very little features besides a worn down skull, which was soldered onto it separately anyway, and all after just a few years wearing by the recipient. A shame, of course, but not much a person can do about it, if they intend to wear it.

[Glenn66]

Some of the SS Honor rings-which were made by Otto Gahr from excellent quality silver and were stamped-now resemble plain wedding rings with very little features besides a worn down skull

If only those honor ring holders had an expert at the time to advise them not to polish and let the patina age...such a shame.

[Mark4321]

Like I said, Mark-silver does wear very quickly. Some of the SS Honor rings-which were made by Otto Gahr from excellent quality silver and were stamped-now resemble plain wedding rings with very little features besides a worn down skull, which was soldered onto it separately anyway, and all after just a few years wearing by the recipient. A shame, of course, but not much a person can do about it, if they intend to wear it.

Ah, IF you wear it, of course. And especially outside ornamentation on the band, as in the Ehrenring. No, I meant as a collector, they can last a long long time in your collection! :-)