German Silvertone Wrapped Wire Demi Parure

I am astonished at the wide variety of costume jewelry I have seen from Germany.  This set is really pretty, and I believe it is from the 1920s through 1940s.  It looks like sterling silver, but there are no hallmarks other than the word "GERMANY" on each earring clip.  They are possibly made of German Silver, which ironically does not contain any silver at all, rather an alloy of copper with nickel and sometimes zinc.  German Silver can also be referred to as "Nickel Silver", "Nickel Copper", or "Alpaca," and the usual content is as follows:  60% copper, 20% nickel, 20% zinc.

Aside from what this lovely set is made of, I have been feverishly researching its design.  I have not come across any other pieces locally like this, but have seen a few online.  I would like to call it a type of "filigree" work, as it is using metal threads, but unlike filigree, this technique appears to only use wrapping and bending without any soldering.  The artist also used purple thread to decorate a border around each flower petal on both the earrings and the brooch. 

Feel free to contact me if you are interested in purchasing this piece.  Questions, comments, and additional information are always appreciated.  My online shop on http://www.rubylane.com/ is coming soon.

Thank you to the following website(s) for the historical content of this blog post:

Wikipedia. Retrieved 4/29/2011 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel_silver