Necklace? Choker? “Made in Germany”

Hi everyone!

This wonderful older lady brought me a piece to clean up a bit, and possibly repair one side that was fixed long time ago with what looks like thick plastic tape…
However, before I even touch this piece, other than to look at it, I need to know more information, and she knows nothing! All she says is that she got it from her family when an older relative passed.

A cursory google search revealed that it may date between 1887 and World War II, when a British trade act required German jewelry to be marked “Made in Germany”. That’s all I could find. There are no hallmarks other than the “Made in Germany,” inside of the clasp. One of her friends insists it’s a watch fob/vest closure and that it’s copper (ummm, def not copper!) Fobs usually there’s a T-bar on one end and the chain would be much longer.

The ornate centerpiece appears to be cast. I don’t think it’s brass - the solder joints are far too smooth and not discolored, and it is not tarnished as brass usually does. It also doesn’t smell like brass!

The cabochons and pearls MAY be set in gold, as they are soft and easy to move and a brighter yellow. It also looks like the central cab has been glued in carelessly with Elmers.

The solder areas are relatively smooth and clean, there is one area on the back of the piece that looks as if it was resoldered in the past 20 or so years. A slight bit of silvertone is showing through.

My questions for you wise and wonderful people are:
has anyone ever seen anything like this?
Any ideas of the origin?
Time period?
Any idea what this metal may be?

She doesn’t want to involve a pawn shop or a retail jeweler because she’s afraid she is going to be ripped off or they will steal the stones out of a piece.

The Foxtail chains (is that the correct term for these? They are four sided.) feel AND smell like a rope chain my mother gave me that’s definitely from Italy in late 1800s. - I have brought my chain to numerous jewelers over the years and no one has ever been able to tell me the metal content, other than that it is not brass, not copper, and not gold.

Sigh.

Any, ideas, suspicions and/or thoughts would be greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance!

(had quite a bit of an issue trying to upload decent files here. If anybody needs to see more, let me know and I will try to figure out how I can do better…)

 

We are going to need more & better pix with details in focus. The term for the larger chain that goes around the back of the neck is 'belcher'. Does the central piece slide? My immediate reaction is brass & glass, but that's just one opinion. We'll see what other joolies say.

 

Reverse image search got one hit of a necklace with the exact same kind of chain and medallion with a different decoration on the front.
Maybe the pictures there will tide the jewelry people over until you can get better pictures uploaded here.


https://myvintagejewel.com/products...-necklace?variant=39526434439226&currency=USD

 

https://pin.it/758CrVa

 

@Aznathalie 's link goes to an old Etsy page. Very good pictures there.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/240262...how_sold_out_detail=1&ref=nla_listing_details

 

Thank you everyone!

 

I want to thank everyone for their very very helpful responses!

 

I know the etsy one claims 1960, but in 1960 anything coming here from there would have said Made in W. Germany. Think it's safe to say this was not made after the reunification, so pre-WWII, when the country was divided. There was a fad for vaguely Victorian clothes & jewels later on in the 60s, but I don't recall seeing anything like this as a reproduction. I think you want to look at jewellery that used slides as a component & see if there's any consensus about when it was popular.

 

Where is the Made in Germany mark on the piece? Can you post a photo of the mark? I notice that the two that were found as comparables don't mention Germany.

And welcome to Antiquers, @OccasionalAerialist !

 

Just to say that I have a necklace marked Made in Germany and I strongly suspect it is from 1960s or 1970s, and not from DDR. Does not look to me pre WWII. It looks very different to TS piece, though. I will find it tomorrow and will post pics.

 

Found the necklace, it is stamped only Germany (not made in Germany).

I remember researching when I got it and found that the mark alone cannot give me indication about the period it was made as there are pieces marked only Germany and actually made in West Germany. On the contrary, DDR pieces are always marked with DDR or made in DDR (also in Russian).

 

Here is mine

 

I can only speak to US fashions, but I can't see your necklace having been new here any later than the 1950s, &, with the aurora borealis beads, no earlier either.

Unless items were fraudulently marked as being from W. Germany, we did not see goods from E. Germany here while the country was divided. I can easily imagine the situation could have been different for goods exported eastward.

 

Bronwen, to me it looks like the Czech pieces popular here in 1960s but even if it is from 1950s as you suggest, it means that it is from West Germany although marked only Germany.

I don't say the TS' necklaces is after WWII, I say that the mark Germany without mentioning "West" can be before but also after WWII (i.e from West Germany without mentioning West) so other features should be used to determine its age.

I tend to think that in both directions there was no exchange of goods of this type (technologies and machinery is a different story, they were indeed exported eastwards). But people still travelled from here to West Germany, although a few did it, and someone might have bought the necklace as a present for his wife, or the wife to have bought it herself (if accompanying him), and some 60 years later the necklace is discarded as invaluable plastic, and comes to me. I highly doubt that dollars were spent for West Germany costume jewelry imports in BG especially in view of the massive presence here of similar quality Czech jewelry.

 

Yup, spot on and it happens with ceramics, too.