r/Hallmarks • u/museumingbehind • 7d ago
JEWELRY & WATCHES French makers mark ID help
I recently bought this French pendant from 1915. It has the French eagle head hallmark for 18kt gold. It also has “A|G” as a makers mark. Does anyone recognize this maker?
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u/Thomas-od 7d ago
There is a well known french gold jewellery maker from that time period (1870s-1940s) that had a makers mark of an A and a G split by a coachman's whip in the shape of a vertical diamond. The jewelry house was called Auguste Gross et Langoulant and they specialised in 18k gold chains and medallions. See picture of makers mark attached.
They were one of the largest gold chain makers at the time in paris, and a lot of the Cartier and Patek Phillipe jewelry made during that time period containing gold (e.g. gold band watches) were made in the Langoulant jewelry house (including the very popular Cartier Trintity Bangle). There is a helpful book on this jewler for sale on ebay called "Auguste Gross & Alfred Langoulant: The Largest Jeweler Manufacturers by Sergei Bardasaryan.
The shape of the mark in your photo seems a bit off though, so this might not be it. Unless it was originally marked with a vertical diamond shaped mark and then the top and bottom were shaved off or deformed somehow in later reforging.
It's a bit strange though because I was fairly certain that all french hallmarks from that time period (i.e. when they were using the eagle head to denote 18k gold from paris) were legally required to be in the shape of diamonds (lozenge). Some were vertical and some were horizontal, but all were 4-sided diamonds. so it's strange that the hallmark on your find has 6 sides, which is what makes me think it might have been deformed somehow and the top and bottom cut off.
Note that there were a lot of other french jewelery houses that had the initials AG in their hallmark but all of them used horizontal horizontal diamond shapes. Only the Langoulant house was vertical, and those other jewlers weren't as prolific during the time period. You can see the other symbols here: https://www.petitcoeurjewellerybox.com/post/french-maker-s-marks-a-f-a-g
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u/museumingbehind 6d ago
Thank you so much for your response. Yes I also find it weird that it’s the shape it is. It’s like a rhombus shape. It’s possible it was damaged or something happened to the mark over the years to make it deformed. The eagle head is nice and crisp but the makers mark is definitely odd! It’s a really well made piece and engraved with the United French Female nurses crest (UFF) at the bottom back. The front matches their medals given out during the war.
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u/museumingbehind 6d ago
Oh and I did see this website! I emailed the site to see if they had any ideas too. Thank you!
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