Vintage unsigned Attwood & Sawyer baroque style, ornate rhinestone necklace and matching clip on earrings, encrusted with clear rhinestones

Wonderful vintage necklace and clip-on earrings set, consisting of rhinestone embellished shiny silver tone floral panels in an elaborate design. The necklace and earrings are encrusted with clear crystal rhinestones throughout, with the addition of teardrop shaped stones in the dangling drops including the end of the necklace extension chain. The teardrop rhinestones in the earring drops are set open backed to let the light penetrate.

The necklace has an adjustable length between about 14 and 16 inches. It fastens with the simple hook clasp and rhinestoned extension chain. The earrings do not require piercings as they fasten with secure clips. The have a length of about 1.5 inches. All the pieces are in very good vintage condition.

The pieces are unsigned, which surprised me as they are almost identical to a known design (the 'Ballina') for the quality makers Attwood and Sawyer (usually signed A&S). However these pieces are unsigned. I am trying to research a link between Mitchel Maer (who also designed for Christian Dior) and the Attwood and Sawyer factory (as Horace Attwood worked for Maer originally before setting up the A&S business). There are several unsigned pieces I have had that I suspect are Mitchel Maer pieces and that some designs were then taken over (with permission) to the A&S company. The 'Ballina' design was used in a costume in the James Bond film 'Octopussy' which was filmed in 1982-3, before the A&S signature was being stamped on the pieces.

Founded in England in 1956 by Horace Attwood (Sawyer was a silent partner), Attwood & Sawyer produced copies of 18th- and 19th-century precious jewellery, many pieces for the Dallas and Dynasty TV series, and glittering diamante compositions for the Miss World competitions.