I just got this lovely brooch/pendant which is 900 silver with a huge blister pearl, a demantoid garnet, and what appears to be gold overlay. The pin is stamped 585 but nothing on the overlay so I will need someone to test it for me to be sure.
There is a clear German crown/crescent hallmark, a 900 purity stamp and a maker's mark, "RvB" inside of a heart. I've scoured this page and the internet and found only one other example of this mark on another brooch. The seller (eBay) didn't know the maker either. Strangely, the brooch on eBay is a rather crude copy of a very extraordinary piece of art studio jewelry by a well known American silversmith, Margaret DePatta who worked c. 1930 - 1964. I found it by doing a google image search. That piece was made in 1949 and has the exact same mark as my brooch, so I know it is at least as late as 1949. However this style seems more Nouveau to me, and I've read that Nouveau jewelry makers were fond of blister pearls and those amazing Russian green garnets (which are now fairly available but at the time were extremely rare as they were only found in Russia).
At any rate, any help with this maker's mark would be appreciated! I did find it on "silvercollection.it" under "unknown marks", so I thought I'd try here.
Thank you!
Jeny
