Date your piece
Use this when there is nothing to read: no marks, or marks too worn to make out. It asks the questions a dealer asks, in the order a dealer asks them. Answer only what you can actually see - guessing poisons the result faster than skipping.
How the answer is reached
Two kinds of evidence go in. Some answers are soft: a snake motif leans early Victorian but proves nothing on its own, because snakes were revived twice. Others are hard: a clip-back earring fitting was patented in 1934, so nothing wearing one was made before that, whatever the rest of the piece looks like. Hard evidence eliminates whole eras; soft evidence only shifts the odds between the survivors.
That is why the result shows what it ruled out as well as what it chose. The elimination is usually more reliable than the choice.
Where it fails
Three situations defeat it, and they are common enough to name.
- Marriages. A Georgian brooch converted to a pendant in 1910 and re-stoned in 1985 is three objects. Every answer you give will be true and the combination will be nonsense.
- Revivals. The nineteenth century revived the Renaissance, the 1970s revived Art Deco, and the current market revives everything. A good revival piece is meant to fool you and often does.
- Repairs. Catches, clasps, shanks and posts are the parts that wear out. A 1950s safety catch on an 1870s brooch is normal, not suspicious.
If your answer feels wrong, it may be. Work through the full method, which explains what each piece of evidence is actually worth.