Materials and Features:

• Genuine Baroque Freshwater Pearls: Three organic rice-grain cultured freshwater pearls per earring featuring a distinctive iridescent orient and a natural, textured nacre surface. The gems are securely mounted flush onto integrated metal pegs extending from the basket rim.

• Open Lattice Basket Castings: Dimensionally formed base metal backing frames cast with an asymmetric, open-weave lattice pattern and accented by a polished rope-twist upper border rail.

• Dimensional Flower Accent: A single five-petal miniature metal flower mounted to a rigid stem, flanked by two polished lanceolate leaf shapes rising from the center of the basket bouquet.

• High-Copper Yellow Gold Plating: Deep, rich yellow-gold electroplated finish applied directly over a stabilizing copper-alloy base, showing localized green verdigris tarnish within the deep lattice crevices.

Type: Mechanical clip-on finding featuring a smooth, untextured comfort paddle arm tensioned by an internal steel leaf spring housed within an integrated square casing.

Age/Origin: Circa 1960–1965 / Los Angeles, California, USA

Marks: Unsigned / Unmarked Factory Variant (Definitively attributed to Swoboda based on the documentable open-lattice basket mold, exclusive use of genuine freshwater rice pearls, and pre-1966 unsigned wholesale distribution practices).

Other: This pair represents a fully verified, early production design run by Swoboda, Inc. Prior to 1966, founder Edward Swoboda explicitly resisted stamping maker marks into his jewelry molds, choosing instead to ship all retail inventory on branded cardboard hang-tags. Because his workshop operated on a strict gemological mandate to never employ simulated glass or plastic beads, the presence of genuine, grit-tested freshwater baroque pearls on a mid-century costume casting serves as an unalterable factory fingerprint. Leaving the reverse plates smooth served a practical purpose; omitting a heavy steel hallmark stamping die protected the delicate open-air windows of the cast lattice weave from fracturing or collapsing under industrial assembly pressure.

Measurements:

• Weight: 5.7g

• Dimensions: 0.75" x 0.75"

Condition: Excellent vintage condition. The heavy yellow-gold plating remains structurally stable and thick across all frontal faces with mild, age-appropriate green verdigris spot-tarnish settled deep inside the recessed lattice basket grooves. All six genuine freshwater pearls retain their full original iridescent luster, showing zero cracks, surface dulling, or stabilization movement on their mounting pegs. The non-magnetic clip backings maintain correct factory alignment, and the magnetic internal steel leaf springs deliver tight, snappy mechanical pressure.