Ummm - big old hunk of silvery magnificence

? ->) a pendant, that's all I got.

Someone tested it earlier... I didn't see the test, which just turned the same as the grayish residue it left at about 8 o clock on the inside ring (reverse side, of course)...

I don't think it's silver, but it has a very nice lustre to it.

Can anyone think of a costume jeweler who makes pieces like this?

 

It's brutalist style, but a lot of people did that in the 70s. I'd have it tested for silver content; a lot of these pieces were done in it by random artisans. I have a feeling it's something called electroform.

 

Looks like a piece of lost wax casting. Whether by an actual artisan or a high school student back in the 60s.

You make an item out of wax, cast it in plaster, put it in a kiln to melt the wax, put the mold in a centrifuge, melt your silver and let it spin into the mold.

My high school had a jewelry class. We did things like this back then.
You could buy silver to melt, or do what I did, go to junk stores and buy bent up old silver and melt it.
So of course things weren't marked silver.

Adding:
Looking again at the pictures. On the back you can see little balls which would have been air bubbles in the mold. An artisan would have cleaned them up better.

 

I'll test it myself tomorrow - the photo really doesn't do it justice, and I notice it's much prettier sideways, not vertically - really too bad it's not a pin.

So if electroform - the pieces I saw mostly were cast from real plants - this has a very pillowy look - like warm wax, kind of. (as I see cluttered mentioned above)

Sorry, I didn't complete my electroform thought:
but I did find this:

 

Looks more like it was someone playing with a wax pen and cast it.Electroforming only "plates" an already made object like leaves,acorns,etc.

 

It reminded me of these sterling toothpicks I have a set of. ALP GULDSMEDJA GUNNAR

 

Electroforming can be done over all sorts of bases, including resin models that some manufacturers use for inexpensive 'sterling' jewelry and other objects (I see a lot coming out of Israel) - the pendant looks more like a lost wax casting to me.

Regarding the nude cocktail picks - 'ALP' on Swedish silver indicates 'Alpacca' (nickel silver, usually silverplated), if solid silver, sterling or otherwise, would be marked as such...

~Cheryl

 

I'd never have thought the term Alpacca wasn't related to Mexican or South American Alpaca! That's great to know.

I found this list of all the "German Silver" or Alpacca Silver names used around the world:

• Alpaca or Alpacca Silver
• Aluminum Silver
• Austrian Silver
• Brazil or Brazilian Silver
• Bristol Silver
• Burmaroid Silver
• England Silver
• German Silver
• Indian Silver
• Japanese Silver
• Laxey Silver
• Mexican Silver
• Nevada Silver
• Nickel Silver
• Paktong
• Pearl Silver
• Potosi Silver
• Solid G Silver (aka German Silver)
• Sonora Silver
• Tyrol Silver
• Venetian Silver
• Yukon Silver

And Italy uses some form of the word Argentum, right?

 

It might also be that silver clay stuff.

 

Those toothpicks are awesome , Scouts ! I get a Japanesque feel from that pendant ,very organic .

 

I find the pendant to be erotic and very well thought out and made...

 

Thanks for the info, guys - I'm on my way to work and will test, but ? what the heck it's made of.

johnnycb and komokwa - thanks, I agree - I really am surprised at how much more beautiful that pendant is sidewise...

Here's the test I did today - greige.

 

According to stebgo.com, greige is not a bad test result:
10KY Brown Color
14KY Very Slight Brown Color
18KY+ No Color Change
10KW Dark Brown, After 20 Seconds The Acid Starts To Fizz
14KW Slight Brown
18KW Faint Brown
Sterling Milky White/Gray