Silver Tongs

[hosman321]

Ok everyone, I could use a bit of help. I just bought these tongs. I have been looking for some bright-cut ones but they were all out of my price range. I found these and they were much cheaper because they don't know the maker or date. I can't decide if they were made by S.Godbehere, E.Wigan & James Bult or by Sebastian & James Crespell. The "S" in the Godbehere looks just like on my tongs, closer than the "S" in Crespell. But the shield looks like the Crespell mark. But the dots between the letters on the Crespell mark are not on my tongs. It's driving me crazy! But I am voting Godbehere.


My Tongs:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/300591415044?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

Godbehere, Wigan, & Bult Mark...right hand column of page:
http://www.925-1000.com/dlLondon12.html#M

Crespell Mark, all the way at the bottom of page:
http://www.silvermakersmarks.co.uk/Makers/London-SA-SC.html

[talesofthesevenseas]

OH!!! Those are LOVELY!! I don't think I can add anything that hasn't been done already, but I think that you have a neat set of tongs, with loads of personality. They are positively dripping with history!

[fancypants]

Nice & cool little cube-tongs , hosman321 !

I'll take a close look @ the marks tomorrow (when my ole eyes are not so tired & see if I can add more than this) .

[KC]

NIce Set of Tongs.  Ditto about fancy's comments....tired eyes tonight!

[hosman321]

Thank you everyone! Can you revise an ebay listing after the listing has closed? I swear I read the description 20 times before I bought it and did NOT see that it had been repaired right over the maker's mark. I told the seller after I paid that I noticed the repair at that spot and voila!, now it is in the listing. Is this possible or was I seriously blind 20 times in a row?

[talesofthesevenseas]

Looks like your eyesight is just fine Hosman. Do a right click on the description and select properties. It was modified on 9/9/11. The auction ended on 9/8/11.

You can also see it if you go to your browser, select View, then select Source. In the resulting window select Edit, then select Time/Date. You'll see when it was last modified at the beginning of the HTML code. If I am not mistaken, a saavy seller is able to alter the date and time manually in the source code by doing the same thing and editing the code, but it looks like your seller didn't think of that. If you want to pursue this, you might want to save some screen captures.

[hosman321]

That just pisses me right off. I might send them back just because of that. If I do keep them because I love them too much, I will leave negative feedback. How dare he try to save his own butt like that. RUDE!!

[hosman321]

This was the email I sent right before they modified it. Was trying to help but it kinda backfired...  Like, why would they need to modify it if it was already bought and paid for? It wasn't to help me, it was to help themselves. And they have a 7 day return policy anyways if you are not happy, so

I just wanted to write and say thank you for the lightning fast shipping! I am very excited for these tongs, I am a new collector and they are beautiful. I did hours of research before buying them and just wanted to let you know, just for the sake of learning, that I think I found the maker. I believe they were made by S. Godbehere, E. Wigan and James Bult. The "S" looks much more like their "S" than the Crespell "S". And the shape of the shield and distance between each letter also looks like the Godbehere mark. I think that maybe there was a crack or something that was smoothed over which is why the middle of the mark is gone. But of course, I could just be trying to sound like I know what I'm talking about. That would date these to 1809. Anywho, just thought I would share that for future reference. Thank you again! Jessica
The Godbehere mark is on the right hand side of this page.
http://www.925-1000.com/dlLondon12.html#M

[talesofthesevenseas]

I would give him/her a chance to respond before leaving negative feedback. Contact him/her tell them that you can see that they modified the document on 9/9/11 and then request whatever will resolve the situation, like a partial refund. Getting busted like this ought to be enough to keep them from doing it again, but I would take some screen captures now. (see my post above, I modified it while you were posting and there is another way they can cheat by modifying the code)

[talesofthesevenseas]

Crap, Hosman I was wrong. If you look at the properties option on any Ebay page it shows modification on today's date. It must pick up the info from the changes in the Ebay advertising rather than when the document was modified. Let me see if I can find a better way to determine if a document has been changed.

[talesofthesevenseas]

I hope I did not create an uncomfortable situation. It looks like a seller can ADD to a listing at any time, even after bids are in, but cannot delete information. It looks like the only way to tell if it has changed is to take screen captures of the auctions you're bidding on. 

[Oceans64]

T - I think you are right about not being able to change a description once a bid id in.... 

Wayward was helping me a while back to add "smoke-free home" to a description.  I wasn't able since someone already bid so he asked a question on my listing so I could include "smoke free home" in my answer....

[mart]

I didn`t see anything was altered and as far as I know you cannot alter a description once a bid has been placed !! I did see that he added the info you gave him on the maker !!  The description said it was possibly an old repair,, they really weren`t sure,, so I would just look at it when it arrives !!

[hosman321]

Then maybe it's time for me to get an eye exam. 

[hosman321]

Any opinions about that maker's mark?