QuestionI have a silver ring that I bought from the mensa boutique website. It has the M with a globe logo on the front of the ring. It's a modern piece, but I can't figure out who they use as their manufacturer. The makers mark is STER L, or the letters STER with what appears to be an L after the letters. The lower bar on the L is somewhat thicker than the vertical bar, so it may not be an actual letter L. Do you know any current silver ring or jewelery manufacturers that could be responsible for making my ring?
AnswerHello Dan,
The "ster" mark is for sterling, quite obvious as you say- the "L" however, indicates a sterling date or makers mark.It is unclear and as you said, the bar or thicker underline of the type style may be part of the stylized makers mark or a reference to the import standard as many organisations use overseas contractors to mass produce their wares. The use of the "ster" as opposed to .925, the more modern and universally accepted indication of the alloy, sterling, is more commonly used since the late 1970's. " Ster" is more likely cast from an older mould, if not hand stamped- depending on what you paid for the ring, I would be making an educated guess as to its hand stamping.
I did a patent search and found essentially, nothing other than that it is not made inthe USA. I searched import trade documents and found very little there also other than a reference to the totall tonnage of imported goods to American MENSA organisation..still no maker.
. The use of the logo is patented and copyrighted to American MENSA,et al, but I could find no designer acredidations nor manufacturing jewelers.Looking at the pieces in the boutique ( highly overpriced!!) I can tell you that they are tree cast and standard and as such, I would think a company that produces class and military rings is the maker. Those companies are not as numerous as you would think and to narrow it down is hard because the blank signets and onyx inlaid men's style mountings can be bought from Stuller, Hoover and Strong, and a number of other major manufacturing concerns.The logo seems to be attached by laser weld to a couple of the designs in the boutique and directly cast in others.The personalised varieties offered to life members are probably engraved by the manufacturer; that leads me to further believe a company like Balfour, Art Carved, or Keystone ( perhaps the big 3 in American manufacturing of that type of ring) is the contractor. I would ,if you are so inclined, write directly to MENSA US, and ask them who manufactures their precious metal rings..it is the most direct and I would think they would have no problem telling you who made your ring, particularly if you have problems with it or need to know some information on a stone, the warranty ,or the possibility of having it modified in some way.
I am sorry that that is all I can tell you , but that's all I came up with in a few hours of searching..
Best regards,Ari
