Gold and Silver Mounted bows originating in China

Over the last few years we have seen some excellent bows geing from China. A geplete line of inexpensive student bows which are a great value and some higher level bows made of pernambuco, carbon fiber and IPE are readily available. The workmanship on the whole is quite good and there is a great deal of variety in the frog inlays. Generally these are a good value with some precautions. You will see offerings of gold mounted bows and you will see offerings of silver mounted bows. Both offerings should be met with skepticism as the precious metal content may be a myth. With the rise in precious metal prices one should naturally question the metal content. Usually silver mounted bows are some kind of silver, but not of the fine silver (.999) grade. Sterling (.925) is the ideal for bows as it is harder than fine silver (.999) grade and the ferrule will hold up better. A recent acid test of a bow listed as silver actually tested as copper nickel another tested as low grade silver being an alloy of silver and copper or some other metal. Gold is another matter. A recent acid test of a gold mounted bow revealed that the metal was actually brass although it was listed as a gold mounted bow. Another was listed as 7 carat gold and tested as very low grade gold. In the U.S. one can not claim that an item is gold if its carat weight is less than 10 carat so when a claim is made as to silver or gold, think of it as merely as a color, not precious metal content.Other materials which are questionable as to auction listings are: tortoise shell and ivory frogs. These materials are on the endangered species list and are not able to be imported to, or exported from the U.S. When you see a listing for an ivory mounted bow or a tortoise shell bow, the seller may or may not disclose the fact that the material is synthetic, as it should be, and according to today's accepted standards.The only problem with these synthetic materials is that they do not wear well over time. It is best to stay with ebony frogs. Ira Kraemerviolins (okay i.d.)