Featured Seeking help with large Art Deco pendant

Hello! I've been searching and Googling for an ID of the maker with no luck ... am hoping some of you jewelry wizards (or maybe even someone with better eyes than mine) can make out the mark or words on the back of this silver-colored pendant set with a large (over1.5" by ¾" or about 4cm by 2cm) blue glass center "stone" and several smaller colorless and black glass pastes. There are 4 missing pastes and the center "stone" is in bad shape (but still looks good if no one gets too close to me )

Total length of pendant is just over 2¾" or 7.2cm long and weighs just over an ounce.

At some point after it was made there had been a pin bar added - of which only the clasp end remains (good - less work for me to remove it)

I've included many photos ... so I'll apologize in advance if there are too many ... it's just so difficult to see the details in a photo that can be seen when the item is in one's own hand.

When in the thrift store, I thought that the oblong mark was a boar ... which would make sense with a diamond-shaped makers mark (with what looks like an "S" above or below a blob and another undecipherable letter at the other end of that blob) and what looks like the word "Paris" stamped on the back. Now that I've cleaned up the mark ... I'm not sure. I've searched through all the letters for French silversmiths at 950-1000 but no marks looked like mine.

I cannot make out the word(s) that are under the stamp that looks like "Paris" although some of the letters are clear,

Do you think this is an actual Art Deco period piece or a more recent piece in that style?

Here it is in day
light on a white background which has washed out the color of the center glass "stone" something terrible.

this is a better representation of the blue color

I know y'all like to see the back

marks before polishing

and after ...


These are the words or name that I cannot make out


Thanks for any thoughts or directions where I can look for an answer.

 

It appears to have been cast,most likely made sometime after the late 1940's.

 

The one word is "Paris", but I can't make out much of the others.

Looks like "REAT * SOR**" The stars are letters I can't make out.

Oh - and I think it is earlier than the late '40s/early '50s.

 

I agree with Messi's letter guesses.

Was asymmetry unusual in Deco pieces, jewelry, in particular?

 

Not at all.

 

Don't you gals see..... Heather...So???

I've gotta say , that looks like a quality item !!!

 

Hmmm It could well be.

 

Thanks for playing my version of "Wheel of Fortune" ... without a wheel ... and without any prizes

I've seen both of those possibilities! As well as ?EAT?(or ??)N SO?(that ? could be a P or R)??

I'm now going through the list of French makers marks at the Antique Jewelry University at Lang Antiques

 

Looks like a blue topaz , is that a chip I see in the lower left ?

 

a big chip too !

 

There are at least 6 chips.

 

It looks like the whole piece has had some rough wear.....

 

It's glass ... I've located 2 teeny tiny bubbles within.

Yes, a fairly large chip on the lower left, a HUGE - I can't even call it a chip - missing portion of the "stone" at the top edge, and several (maybe even more than 6) tiny chips and bites on various other facet edges and corners.

I saw the 4 missing round pastes and the issues with the center "stone" but I purchased it because, as mentioned in my OP, it still looks nice from a safe distance ... plus I appreciate when some effort was put into a piece of jewelry.

Still no closer to finding out who made this piece, though which is my focus at the moment.

 

I think the cast blank is so nice I'd rip out the glass and the paste and replace them with a topaz , CZ , & rubies or other semi precious stones !!!!

 

I'm having a hard enough time finding a 20X40mm (Czech, preferably) glass replacement ... Wouldn't want to try and find a natural gem in that size ... But if you have any laying around you'd like to donate, I would happily accept one .

 

Zero help with the maker, but I can see why you purchased this, even with the chips!

Did women ever "personalize" favorite pieces of jewelry by having their name etched in? That is the only thing I could think of. The "Paris" is clearly a stamp, the name seems not to be.

Is there any chance those are diamonds in there? Or possibly that the piece is platinum? I would absolutely have that tested before doing anything. If you don't have a tester, I think you could easily bring it to a jeweler and ask about the diamond-like stones as a starting point.

I would not replace the blue stone. I'd keep in original state.

 

Thanks for that suggestion Lucille.b, I suppose that it could be the previous owner's name ... looks as if each letter was stamped independently of the others ... in a sort of deco or simple nouveau font.

The piece was gray with tarnish when I bought it ... so I'm pretty positive that rules out platinum. -- funny story about testing platinum ... I had what I thought was a platinum pin which had had all its stones pried out, so I took it to my jeweler for testing (yes ... some of you may remember him as the one who put a grinder to my old diamonds) ... this time he held my pin with tongs and took his torch to the end of it until it glowed cherry red (but retained its shape- even the prongs were still sharp)! I asked what would have happened if it had just been white gold, to which he replied ... it would have melted! I think he just likes to have fun with me. --

Anyhow ... I've been wearing this mystery pendant as it is ... where it sits on me, I doubt that anyone will try to look close enough at it to easily notice the flaws to the main "stone" ... and those who try, might just get slapped!

 

Nice! It's silver, .800 or better, as indicated by the boar-head small goods mark - the maker's mark is frustrating, can't make out the one letter or the symbol, can't even be sure if the 'S' is at the top or bottom of the mark. Regardless, even with damage, it's lovely, and I'd guess circa 1920s - it may have originally been suspended from a bar pin or brooch rather than chain...

~Cheryl

 

It has a clasp on it, but no pin stem, so odds are this was meant as a brooch rather than just a pendant. Check here to see if you can find the maker: http://www.925-1000.com/Ffrench_makers_A.html

 

The bail is integral to the design, and the original post notes that the catch was added, given its orientation and the glob of solder, see no reason to doubt that. She also mentions going through all the French makers shown on 950-1000, which I'd assumed was a typo...

~Cheryl