RARE Vintage OYSTEIN BALLE Norway Enamel Guilloche Sterling Silver Pendant Pin

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RARE Vintage OYSTEIN BALLE Norway Enamel Guilloche Sterling Silver Pendant Pin:
$169.99

RARE Vintage Early OYSTEIN BALLE Norway Enamel Guilloche Sterling Silver Pendant PinMarks:
BALLE 925S
STERLING
NORWAYThis gorgeous piece was created by the great modernist Oystein Balle (b.1897 -- d.1964) of Stavanger, Norway. Balle is best known for his colorful abstract design pieces that were a hallmark of the Scandinavian Mid-Century Modern Period. However, the strong Art Noveau influence in this piece leads me to believe that this piece dates from his earlier period. Since Balle opened his shop in 1919, I would take an educated guess that this piece was made sometime between the early 1920s and the late 1940s.This lovely pendant has a beautiful white guilloche background, which unfortunately doesn\'t come through in the pictures. It measures 1 15/16\" (50 mm) in width by 1 5/8\" (42 mm) in height. It weighs 18g. All measurements are approximate. Condition: EXCELLENT vintage condition. This would make a wonderful gift for someone special.Please read the following carefully:Like all vintage items, at least some very light age related wear is to be expected. With one exception, the enamel is perfect--no chips, cracks, flakes, crazing or other defects. The one exception is a 2mm scratch to the left of the middle of the pin design. because of the 3-dimensional aspects of this piece, it is not visible from an ordinary viewing distance--you will need to get your eyes up to about no more than 6 inches to see it. Even then you would have to be looking for it. Inspection under high magnification (45X) seems to confirm that it is nothing deeper than a surface scratch. I tried to get it to show up in the pictures--but without success.On the back is a \"C\" clasp and early 20th entury hinge (not a modified T hinge but not yet a modern hinge). Both work well, hold the pin securely and are well attached to the front piece. The pin has a very slight bend near the hinge but this seems to be part of the design to help it go easily into the C clasp. An expert jeweler (50+ years in the business) recently added era appropriate double bails to enamel this little masterpiece to be worn as a pendant as well as a pin.There seems to be some question about whether this item was ever gold washed or not. There is no evidence of it on the front but on the back there is the very tiniest shade of a golden sheen--this could be either the last remains of a gold wash or perhaps the remaining 7.5% of the metal that was not silver had some copper in it. Really a coin toss. The back, however, is remarkable free from any scratches visible to the naked eye.This item is from a smoke free home. See condition description above and study all the pictures that form part of the description. Please ask any questions before buying!
Postage charge includes tracking. Immediate payment, please. PayPal only accepted for payment. (NO E-CHECKS, PLEASE). Items not paid for within 72 hours after offer closes are subject to cancellation and re-listing. At this time I am shipping to the continental U.S., Alaska/Hawaii and APO/FPO addresses. Post Office addresses within the U.S. are acceptable. These locations get the domestic mail shipping price quoted.For international customers, please note that at this time I am shipping only to the following countries, Australia, Canada, Bermuda, Belgium, Iceland, Ireland, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Germany, Jersey, Guernsey, Norway, Sweden and Denmark, and New Zealand. I hope to expand this list in the near future. International customers whose country shipping costs are not itemized below must contact me for shipping costs before paying as cost will vary depending on location. I will charge you only what the USPS charges me for shipping. I do not charge a handling fee.A final word on shipping. I will either ship first class mail or priority mail service--your choice. While first class mail is significantly less (especially for international mail), first class mail is not insured while priority mail service is. Given the rarity of this item, I recommend the winning buyer consider priority mail service for their own protection. While I have never had a seller not receive the package (I ship both domestic and international first class mail), there is always a first time.International buyers are responsible for any and all in-country imposed costs such as tariffs, customs duties, VAT, excise taxes etc. While many of the items I sell are often within the exemption amount for import duties, not all are and it is the responsibility of the BUYER to determine whether or not any item purchased will be subject to in-country charges and what those charges may be. If you don\'t know, please check with your local post office before purchasing or offerding; I don\'t want you to have any nasty surprises when the item you purchased arrives at your local post office. Not good for either of us. I will however mark the package contents as \"used or second hand goods\" on the customs declaration. Hopefully this will help.I will be happy to consolidate shipments of items purchased within a 48 hour period. If you need longer than that, just let me know. I can work with you as long as you have placed at least 1 offer on the second item.Maryland residents must add 6% sales tax. (Hey, I don\'t like it any better than you do.)Note--I am both an buyer as well as an seller and have garnered 100% positive rating from over 650 sellers and buyers! So what I expect as a buyer in terms of customer service you can be confident that I will be providing to you as a seller. If I am not willing to take it back from you, I won\'t be putting it up for sale!