This cool bracelet is engraved with crysanthemums and made of pewter. It is the November bracelet from the "Flower of the Month" collection by Kirk Steiff. Charles Clinton Steiff bought out his partners of the Baltimore Sterling Silver Company in 1904 and changed the name to the Steiff Company. Steiff was known for producing beautiful, yet moderately priced, hand chased and Repousse pieces of very high quality. Repousse (or repoussage) is the shaping of metal by hammering its reverse side, and chasing is the opposite of repousse (also known as embossing). The Steiff Company became Kirk Stieff in 1980, after aquiring Samuel Kirk & Son, Inc. the previous year.
I happen to love the look of pewter and it is not a cheap substitute for Sterling silver as many people think. Pewter has been around for centuries and has its own qualities that make it special, and many designers work with it today (see http://www.ramshornstudio.com/). Pewter is an alloy consisting mainly of tin mixed with various metals in diverse proportions. Pewter often contained lead in the past, which caused tarnishing problems and obvious health risks, but now it is available lead-free.
Feel free to contact me if you are interested in purchasing this piece. Questions, comments, and additional information are always appreciated. My online shop on http://www.etsy.com/ is coming soon.
Thank you to the following website(s) for the historical content of this blog post:
Wikipedia. Retrieved on 1/13/2011 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repouss%C3%A9_and_chasing and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stieff_Silver
Rams Horn Studio. Retrieved on 1/13/2011 from http://www.ramshornstudio.com/pewter.htm
When were the flower of the month bracelets actually made?
ReplyDeleteHi do you still have the November bracelet and how much?! And of course what shape is it in. I had an original one and after years of being worn daily it broke in half. So did my ❤️ Thank you
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