Antique Pinchbeck Fob
Product details
| Origin | Great Britain |
| Period | 19th Century |
| Detail | A fob seal mounted on the base of a shank with a small ring for |
| suspension from a watchchain or chatelaine. | |
| Remarks | An alloy of copper and zinc (25%0 invented around 1720 by the London |
| watchmaker Christopher PINCHBECK. This alloy looked exactly like gold | |
| but was much lighter. and had the same quality of craftmanship as seen in | |
| gold jewellery. Although originally used for watch cases it soon was also | |
| used for jewellery. No alternative to gold in the 18th C. was as good | |
| as pinchbeck. | |
| After 1854 when it became legal in England to sell gold below 18 carat | |
| Pinchbeck became more or less obsolete. To-day real Pinchbeck is rare. |
