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Author Topic: It's not a tennis bracelet, but it's very beautiful and functional  (Read 3903 times)
DiamondsAreForever
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« on: March 13, 2011, 03:22:45 PM »

Alright, it's been a quiet weekend here on CDI and I'm a little bored.  There was about five minutes of sunshine, so I went outside and took a few pictures.  Let's start with this one.


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DiamondsAreForever
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« Reply #1 on: March 13, 2011, 04:11:45 PM »

Voila!


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oldmancoyote
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« Reply #2 on: March 13, 2011, 04:38:41 PM »

Hummm... that looks interesting... story, please.
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greeneyedbass
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« Reply #3 on: March 13, 2011, 05:38:51 PM »

Oh, wow. I'm also interested in the history behind that bracelet.
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DiamondsAreForever
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« Reply #4 on: March 13, 2011, 06:16:55 PM »

Ooooooohh! Now that I have your attention ladies and gents...patience please, more pics to show.
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DiamondsAreForever
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« Reply #5 on: March 13, 2011, 06:26:33 PM »

Here's a closeup shot of the cover.


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DiamondsAreForever
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« Reply #6 on: March 13, 2011, 06:32:39 PM »

Side view.


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DiamondsAreForever
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« Reply #7 on: March 13, 2011, 06:37:13 PM »

Milgraining detail up close.


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DiamondsAreForever
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« Reply #8 on: March 13, 2011, 07:00:38 PM »

Shot from behind.


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DiamondsAreForever
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« Reply #9 on: March 13, 2011, 07:02:00 PM »

Ooooohhh! Look what's under the cover!


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DiamondsAreForever
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« Reply #10 on: March 13, 2011, 07:03:22 PM »

This is the underside of the watch face cover.


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DiamondsAreForever
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« Reply #11 on: March 13, 2011, 07:04:49 PM »

The story behind this and its acquisition is an interesting one.  One that I'll tell later...
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Diamondsbylauren
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« Reply #12 on: March 13, 2011, 07:11:02 PM »

NICE!~!~~
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David
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DiamondsAreForever
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« Reply #13 on: March 13, 2011, 07:55:07 PM »

Ok, I'm back. DF needed me to mend the jeans he tore today (somehow his rear end got stuck on a bolt and he tore a one inch hole in the back of the jeans).

Now... about the bracelet.
Obviously, it's platinum.
There are no maker marks or hallmarks on it, but it's most likely French.
It has 125 diamonds totaling 7.41 carats.
The diamonds are Old European Cut.
Center diamond of the watch cover is I color, I1 clarity, and weighs .29 carats.
The remainder of the diamonds are G to H color SI to I clarity (only one has an inclusion visible to the naked eye - and under the loupe I can see that it breaks the surface).
The remainder of the diamonds range in size from .04 to .07 to .11 carats
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DiamondsAreForever
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« Reply #14 on: March 13, 2011, 07:56:17 PM »

Now, the provenance...
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DiamondsAreForever
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« Reply #15 on: March 13, 2011, 08:03:41 PM »

I won this item in an eBay auction about a year ago from a woman in Australia, who inherited it from a great aunt. She inherited it when she was 17 and held onto it until last year, when at age 37, she decided that the bracelet watch wasn't her style and she would rather have the money.  The listing was not a "Buy It Now", it was an auction and I had to fight tooth and nail for it.  There were a few things going my way:  most people will not bid on things outside their own country and it ended in the middle of the workday.  I think there were 36 bids total.

I won the item at a bargain price.

bliss
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DiamondsAreForever
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« Reply #16 on: March 13, 2011, 08:19:39 PM »

Now, about the great aunt.  I pressed the seller to tell me all she knew of the bracelet and her aunt, because part of the romance and allure of jewelry is the history.  She wasn't able to tell me much, but here it is...

"...I wish I could give you a huge history. It belonged to my great great great Aunt who was married to a Hotchkiss who was related to the car maker of the Hotchkiss who had family in Florida. Mum said Aunt went on many overseas travels and might even have had it made in France. Margaret was 90 when she died and I was only 17 then that was 20 years ago. I am sure it was some kind of wedding anniversary present. But yes it is beautiful. Much too bling for me. I hope you wear it and get plenty of jealous looks!"
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DiamondsAreForever
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« Reply #17 on: March 13, 2011, 08:33:02 PM »

Some information regarding Hotchkiss automotive from Wikipedia:

Hotchkiss cars were made between 1903 and 1955 by the French company Hotchkiss et Cie in Saint-Denis, Paris. The badge for the marque showed a pair of crossed cannons, evoking the company's earlier history as an arms manufacturer.

The company's first entry into car making came from orders for engine components such as crankshafts which were supplied to Panhard et Levassor, De Dion-Bouton and other pioneering companies and in 1903 they went on to make complete engines. Encouraged by two major car distributors, Mann and Overton of London and Fournier of Paris, Hotchkiss decided to start making their own range of cars and purchased a Mercedes Simplex for inspiration and Georges Terasse, previously of Mors, was taken on as designer.

Early cars

The first Hotchkiss car, a 17 CV (13 kW) four-cylinder model, appeared in 1903 the 20CV Type C with engine based heavily on the Mercedes Simplex except that wherever possible it used ball bearings rather than plain ones (including the crankshaft)and the Hotchkiss drive. Six-cylinder models, the Types L and O followed in 1907.

The ball bearing engines lasted until the 30CV Type X of 1910 and in the same year a move into the smaller car market came with the 2212cc Type Z.

With the outbreak of World War 1, the factory was turned over to war work and a subsidiary plant was opened in Coventry, England. Car production resumed in France 1919 with the pre war Types AD, AD6, AF and AG.
[edit] Inter war production

After an attempt to enter the luxury market with the AK, which did not get beyond the prototype stage, the company decided on a one model policy and introduced the Coventry designed AM in 1923. Later that year the Coventry plant was sold to Morris and Henry Ainsworth (1884-1971) and A.H. Wilde who had run it, moved to Paris to become general manager and chief engineer of the car division respectively.

In 1926 construction of the new factory in the Boulevard Ornano was completed and Hotchkiss bought a steel pressing company allowing in house manufacture of bodies. The one model policy lasted until 1929 when the six cylinder AM73 and AM80 models were announced.

The AM models were replaced by a new range in 1933 with a new naming system. The 411 was an 11CV model with four cylinder engine, the 413 a 13CV four and the 615, 617 and 620 were similar six cylinder types. The 1936 636, which replaced the 620, was available as the high performance Grand Sport and 1937 Paris-Nice with twin carburettors and these allowed Hotchkiss to win the Monte Carlo Rally in 1932, 1933, 1934, 1939, 1949 and 1950.

The armament side of the company and the body stamping plant were nationalised in 1936 by the Front Populaire government and in 1937, what was now largely a car company took over Amilcar. With re-armament speeding up they also started making military vehicles and light tanks. Henry Ainsworth left Paris shortly before the German occupation and during the war the company was engaged in the repair of military vehicles. Control of the company passed to Peugeot in 1942. With liberation in 1944, Ainsworth returned and production restarted in 1946 with the pre war cars, a light truck and a tractor.

Post war models

1955 Hotchkiss Anjou

The range was modernised in 1950 and a new body style, the Anjou, a four door saloon was available on the 1350 (renamed 486) and 2050 (686) chassis. The Anthéor cabriolet was added in 1952. In 1948 Hotchkiss had bought the rights to the Grégoire front wheel drive car and this car entered production in 1951 but was expensive. Sales in general were falling and in 1950 Ainsworth retired and also the Peugeot family sold their interest in the company. Coupé and cabriolet versions of the Hotchkiss-Grégoire were announced in 1951 but sales did not improve and production of it stopped in 1952 after less than 250 were made.
[edit] Merger and closure

Hotchkiss merged with Delahaye in 1954 to become Société Hotchkiss-Delahaye, but car production stopped in 1955 to be replaced by licence built Jeeps. In 1956 the company was taken over by Brandt, a household appliance maker, to become Hotchkiss-Brandt, who were again taken over in 1966 by Thomson-Houston. Military vehicles were made until 1967 and trucks until 1971.
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DiamondsAreForever
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« Reply #18 on: March 13, 2011, 08:41:09 PM »

But...
Prior to making automobiles, the Hotchkiss family was involved in the production or armaments in the late 19th century.  I remember reading somewhere but couldn't find it again that there was some sort of embarrassment with arms sales that caused a shift in operations from the US to France.  Here's some more information on the munitions aspect of the Hotchkiss family, also from Wikipedia.

The Hotchkiss gun can refer to different products of the Hotchkiss arms company starting in the late 19th century. It usually refers to the 1.65-inch (42 mm) light mountain gun; there was also a 3-inch (76 mm) Hotchkiss gun. They were intended to be mounted on a light carriage or packed on mules to accompany a troop of cavalry or an army travelling in rough country.

The 1.65-inch (42 mm) gun and accessories could be packed on two mules. The gun was introduced as a modern replacement for the aging twelve-pound mountain Howitzer. The first gun purchased by the U.S. military from the French arms firm of Hotchkiss was employed against the Nez Percés in 1877. Over the next twenty years the U.S. would purchase fifty more. They were used in Cuba for the attack on San Juan Hill and in the Philippine-American War. It was also used at the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890.
The Hotchkiss Revolving Cannon
picture published 1874

The term "Hotchkiss gun" also refers to the Hotchkiss Revolving Cannon, a revolving barrel machine gun invented in 1872 by Benjamin B. Hotchkiss (1826–1885), founder of Hotchkiss et Cie. It was a built-up, rifled, rapid-fire gun of oil-tempered steel, having a rectangular breechblock which moved in a mortise cut completely through the jacket. It was designed to be light enough to travel with cavalry, and had an effective range beyond that of rifled small-arms.

The revolving Hotchkiss cannon had five 37 mm barrels, and was capable of firing 43 rounds per minute with an accuracy range of 2,000 yards (1,800 m). Each feed magazine held 10 rounds and weighed approximately 18 pounds (8 kg). Besides the field gun version, several other versions of the 37mm Hotchkiss revolving cannon were in existence, notably versions for naval defense against torpedo boats as well as fortress versions firing shrapnel or canister for the defense of moats. The field cannon version was accompanied by a horse-drawn ammunition limber, which held 110 rounds plus six loaded magazines, totaling 170 rounds.[1] One example is on display at the Museum of the History of the Brazilian Army at Fort Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro.

Hotchkiss also produced a range of light naval guns and, in the 1930s, anti-tank guns. The naval guns which originated in the 1880s were mostly 3 pounders and 6 pounders and originally were widely used (by Britain and Russia amongst others) for close-up defence of major warships against small craft armed with the newly invented locomotive torpedo. When improvements in torpedo range made them obsolete in this role, they continued to be used as small-craft armament up to and including WWII. In WWI the British motor gunboats which won naval supremacy from the Germans on Lake Tanganyika were armed with the Hotchkiss 3 pounder. The Hotchkiss 6 pounder was adopted by the British army for the first tanks. During WWII the 6 pounder was the main weapon of the early units of the numerous and successful Fairmile 'D' Class motor gunboats of the Royal Navy, not being entirely replaced by more modern weapons until 1945.
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DiamondsAreForever
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« Reply #19 on: March 13, 2011, 08:43:05 PM »

Also, I don't know if anyone on the forum watches "Pawn Stars" on the History Channel, but during one episode, Rick actually test fires and purchases a Hotchkiss cannon.
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DiamondsAreForever
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« Reply #20 on: March 13, 2011, 08:45:33 PM »

So, the original owner obtained the bracelet watch from France and brought it back to Florida.  It then went to Australia for 20 years, and then came back to the United States (New Jersey).  It's a well-traveled piece of jewelry (has seen more travel miles than me) and is obviously in excellent condition.
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Diamondsbylauren
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« Reply #21 on: March 13, 2011, 09:09:20 PM »

KEWL Beans!!

I love Pawn Stars!!!

Another good one is "Hardcore Porn" - always seems as soon as one of these shows comes out it's copied...
How about "Storage Wars"?
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David
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DiamondsAreForever
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« Reply #22 on: March 13, 2011, 09:14:07 PM »

Do you mean "Hardcore PAWN"?  The one that takes place in the worst part of Chicago?  Rich likes that one, but I like Pawn Stars more because you learn about the items.  The other show is more about the personalities of the customers and employees.  We do both like Storage Wars.  Amazing what some people give up.
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clgwli
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« Reply #23 on: March 13, 2011, 09:20:42 PM »

I woke up too early this morning so my eyes glazed over when I saw all the history... but that is an awesome piece!!!

How cool that you won it on ebay too.  Sometimes vintage can be found for amazing prices.  I totally admit I use sniper programs to help out when I do find good things.
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Elaine aka Squiggly
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« Reply #24 on: March 13, 2011, 09:25:22 PM »

ooops, it's late and there must have been 1000 emails today.
Yes, Hardcore Pawn.
But it's set in Detroit I believe
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David
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