FenwickG Report post Posted January 30, 2012 If you check eBay #130635681294 you will see the listing for a gold and diamond Persois bow which has now ended. The pitch is that they are hallmarked, making them legal to sell in their opinion, and have diamonds. Last year I purchased a similar PRS (Persois) bow that was hallmarked and had a diamond in the end of the button. When I contacted them about devaluing bows with their laser etched hallmarks, I received a long email about it being illegal to sell gold and silver items in Great britain with out a hallmark and also they got more money for their items. Since then all the bows listed by them that I have seen have been "hallmarked and contain one or more diamonds. I was wondering if Martin would know about the legality of having to hallmark the gold and silver on bows. To me it is a desecration and devaluation of a good bow. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
martin swan Report post Posted January 30, 2012 I'm afraid I think this particular seller is round the bend! Should he ever have such a thing as a genuine Persois (or even a Hill or some of the lesser "brands" he prefers), the idea of hallmarking the precious metal and adding the odd diamond or sapphire is just laughable. If it's not too rude a question, why did you buy this bow? I'm genuinely intrigued to know what the appeal is .... I assume you bought it in the hope that it might be genuine and you were willing to overlook the battiness ... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FenwickG Report post Posted January 30, 2012 Hello Martin,I didn't buy this bow. The one I bought was last August. It was an OK usable gold mounted bow with a new (not mentioned)ferrel, ivory underslide and button with diamond. All gold parts (properly)hallmarked of course, The PRS was on the side facet of the stick. At least the PRS was under the frog on the one that was just sold. It takes time to get things correct. After reading the flamboyant description I wanted to see if the emperor had clothes. He didn't! I didn't feel cheated, because I knew I was going to be. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fiddlecollector Report post Posted January 30, 2012 I agree with Martin the seller is nuts! From what i can see in the poor photos that he always has is any old bow which he/she has garnished with precious metals with very poor looking workmanship. Im quite flabbergasted anyone is even seriously bidding on them ,unless they are scrap metal dealers.They would still be paying over the top.How many frogs have you seen where the toe sticks out half a centimetre past the ferrule? Is this guy American as i only ever seem to see this sort of silly decoration on American amateur stuff? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
martin swan Report post Posted January 30, 2012 He seems to be based in Colchester .... they do like a bit of bling down in Essex Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fiddlecollector Report post Posted January 30, 2012 Regarding the law it is only illegal to sell silver items which are newly manufactured and there are weight limits. i.e a silver part such as a ferrule would have to weigh over 7.78 gms to require hallmarking .So as a ferrule doesnt weigh that much on a normal bow then it is not a requirement. Most of the bows sold by him/her look like they have new silver parts so the seller is confusing the law. The weight limit applies to each individual silver part NOT the total weight of all the silver on a bow. On the other hand the limit for gold in the uk is 1 gram which may indeed fall within the hallmarking requirements for a bow part. But how many bows even new have you seen with hallmarks? I personally havent seen any other than on this sellers ebay pages. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
