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Comments

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  Mustafa J. Salem January 2, 2016 at 11:49am

  Dear Betty: This is a beautiful piece indeed. It seems well worn but at the same time quite preserved.  from its style and design and without seeing any hall marks, it looks to me it is Libyan.  from the tools used to craft it  seems that it  was quite old .Somewhat similar design but a bit younger piece is shown here below.  Note that the top and bottom borders of your cuff are thicker therefore the bracelet may have about the same weight but narrower. The design is very close. The tools usedare about the same... quite an old and classic way of engraving fish... Congratulations for the piece... If you see hall marks anywhere on the cuff I will be interested to see photos of them as a matter of interest... Though I am sure it will be Tripoli hallmarked...but to be certain..
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  Mustafa J. Salem January 2, 2016 at 12:01pm

  I must add that as my cuff is younger in age it was crafted by one or two more 'sophisticated' tools than yours, yet the older design was retained in my cuff...It could be the same master smith or one of  his students crafted my cuff.. the hall mark  if available may 'or may not'  indicate that. Good luck to you and very nice to see this interesting cuff... Mustafa
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  TD January 2, 2016 at 12:55pm

  Betty, perhaps of interest.... a similar cuff being offered on Etsy
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  Peter Hoesli January 2, 2016 at 3:27pm

  This is indeed beautiful Betty. Congratulations. Peter
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  Betty January 2, 2016 at 7:19pm

  Thank you everyone!

  Mustafa, I will try to take a picture of the hallmarks or rather, what is left of them...Thank you ZC for pointing out the easy cuff. There is indeed some similarity!

  I am adding a picture from the side below:

  
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  Betty January 2, 2016 at 7:21pm

  
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  Betty January 2, 2016 at 7:23pm

  I just had a look again, Mustafa. There are three round hallmarks inside. Each is dotted around the edge and a tiny bit of Arabic script can be seen. The rest is worn away. Will try to take a pic tomorrow.
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  Mustafa J. Salem January 3, 2016 at 6:00pm

  dotted circular hallmarks indicate master smith's, while the municipality of Tripoli has a different stamp which changes with time. From the  master smith's sometimes we can tell the time and the same with the authority stamps at least approximately... Your bracelet front edges show also the tree motifs which are also old.. This again indicates that your bracelet is quite old.. Needlessto say that it is very impressive in style and also size.
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  Betty January 4, 2016 at 10:09am

  Thank you, Mustafa for all your help. I finally took a picture of the hallmark, but as I said most of the punches have been erased over the years:

  
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  Mustafa J. Salem January 4, 2016 at 1:41pm

  Dear Betty:

  Thank you for taking time and effort to make the picture of the hallmarks. As you have said they are  very much hard to read but they show some letters in Arabic. Anyway  it is clear that the piece was crafted in Libya and from its design and motifs it is quite old...I see that two of the stamps are the same, while I cannot make anything of the third.  Wishing you best and thanks again for your attention. Mustafa