Archive for February, 2009
Fob or charm? What is the difference?
Posted by: | Comments
charm or fob?
As visitors to my antiques shop will know I have quite an excellent selection of antique and vintage charms and fobs for sale. Examining a quantity of these today ( from a wonderful charm necklace) it occurs to me that there is little or no difference between many charms and fobs and many of these tiny precious objects could be used for either purpose.
What is a charm?
This is a small decorative object made of a durable material which can be worn on a necklace , bracelet, dangling from a brooch or even attached to a ring or pair of earrings. A charm can be attached to a key ring and I have a few hanging from my handbag. A charm might have personal significance or meaning to the wearer, it can also have a practical purpose (mini pencil or knife) however usually these are just for decoration. When worn singly on a chain a charm could be called a pendant. Whilst a charm could be of any small size I guess that over 3 cms is getting too big for anything except hanging from a handbag, necklace as a pendant or to be worn as a Watch Fob
What is a Fob?
A small decorative object made of a durable material which can be worn on a watch chain or a chatelaine. A fob may have personal significance to the wearer however it is often just a piece of decorative jewellery or perhaps used to help anchor a pocket watch to the clothing. Some Fobs are clearly meant to be worn as a Watch fob as they contain a watch key. I would say that a Fob would be quite small at 2 cms and go up in size to 5 or 6 cms with most being somewhere in between.
Are Charms for Girls and Fobs for Boys?
Is the only difference between a charm and a fob other than size to do with who wears it? Perhaps its a charm for a girl and a fob for a boy? Not always true as I am sure some victorian ladies would have referred to Fobs on their albertina watch chains. Some men would carry a “Lucky charm.
There is a huge variety of vintage and antique fobs and charms to collect whatever you call them. Just take a look at a few here:
Antique Fobs , Antique Charms, Vintage Charms
Vintage jewellery gifts for Mother everyday
Posted by: | CommentsMothers Day fell on March 22nd this year and I know many of you followed my suggestion and gave her a vintage brooch . Mothers are not just for Mothers day – why not show your mum how much you appreciate her just as a surprise? How about a gift of vintage jewellery or alternatively some antique jewellery? Here are some of my favourite suggestions:
vintage jewellery
For a vintage jewellery gift how about a vintage necklace or a vintage brooch. The advantage over a ring is that they do not have to fit quite so well. For the really trendy mum a charm bracelet or for a budget buy a single silver charm from just £12 including delivery. Tell her about how vintage is high fashion this year – or perhaps if shes telling you about the fashion news and thats a hint she wants some
Caithness paperweights are always popular, my Mum has a collection and I gaver her a special Caithness paperweight this year. Again you can find these on AntiquesAvenue priced from just £12 including delivery although for a special treat I have some rare paperweights at over £100.
Need your gift in a hurry? Do contact me as I can normally arrange immediate dispatch and next day delivery on orders placed by 12.00 mid day.
caithness paperweight
eBay sales by AntiquesAvenue
Posted by: | Comments
Poole Freeform
I am having a bit of a clear out from my shop via eBay this week. I am still hoping to move house later this year and am making a start in reducing what I need to take with me. If you are interested in studio pottery or modern glass it is well worth taking a look as most items start at just £9.99 plus postage. What is available?
Freeform vase by Poole, Kosta Boda vases, Bernard Rooke lamp base. Studio pottery including Phyllis Dupuy and Bridget Drakeford. There are a couple of pieces of Lovatts langley Mill pottery and much more. Take a look at antiquesavenue on eBay
Vintage Jewellery – porcelain brooches
Posted by: | CommentsHand painted porcelain is a popular material in vintage jewellery, it is most usually found in brooches although I have seen earrings and necklaces set with porcelain plaques too. You can often find older brooches , especially Victorian brooches, set with porcelain plaques which have been painted or printed. These brooches are quite decorative and very collectible.
Try looking out for some with classical European paintings:
Hand painted with Birds brooch :
Or how about a collection of hand painted vintage floral brooches?
These three types of vintage brooch all have the inset porcelain plaque in common. They vary in age with the top one being mid-Victorian, the central one being later Victorian and the lower one being an Edwardian brooch.
All should be treated with reasonable care as porcelain chips easily and the pictures would come off if they are subjected to harsh cleaning materials. How should you clean them – hopefully a gentle wipe with a soft dry cloth. If this doesn’t work a well wrung out damp cloth or just a touch of washing up liquid if really necessary. Do not let the damp get to the setting if you can help it as most likely the settings are just costume jewellery and will tarnish and rust easily.
Porcelain plaque brooches can be found from just a few pounds upwards depending on the quality of the painting ( a named artist would increase the price) and also the metal it is set into.
Vintage enamel Jewellery : brooches and pendants
Posted by: | Comments
Vintage Enamel brooches and enamel jewellery in general are so very colourful especially vintage silver and enamel ones. Just take a look at the pictures in this blog post to see some of the variety available.
There are several different types of enameling but they seem to have one basic thing in common – they are a coloured glass applied to the silver. It seems that the glass is powdered and they applied to the base material before being fired at very high temperatures.
The base material is often silver but can also be ceramic or glass or other metals.
The different types of enameling seem in Vintage brooches include;
Engine turned enamel, cloisonne, champleve, plique-a jour enamel and hand painted enamels.
All of these types of enameling add to the desirability of any vintage brooch. It was particularly common in the Art Nouveau era and is one of the features of Scandinavian silver jewellery.
Some care needs to be taken with your vintage enamel jewellery as the enamel can chip and crack. It is difficult to repair the enamel and the end result seldom matches the quality of the original work. I suggest that you never clean your silver and enamel brooches with silver dip. Just a gentle wipe over the enamel with a damp cloth should be sufficient for the enamel perhaps you could clean and silver areas with great care and a silver polishing cloth?
Vintage Easter Gifts- hens chicks and eggs
Posted by: | Comments
- egg trinket box
How about giving vintage this Easter? I can think of lots of vintage items which would make Eggcelent gifts and much less fattening than chocolate. Here is the first little look at a few vintage items available from antiquesavenue with an Easter theme – Hens, chicks and eggs:
Egg shaped trinket boxes are always popular and collectable. They are available in porcelain and enamel. How about a egg shaped trinket box featuring cupid made by Wedgwood for a girlfriend? Mum or grannie would love a Halcyon days or Bilston and Battersea enamel box.
An Easter gift for the man in your life: A vintage tile featuring hens and chicks?
hen tile
Buying antiques or collectables on-line ? a good Royal Mail tip
Posted by: | CommentsJust a quick tip which you may find as handy as I do when buying antiques and collectibles on-line. Has the postie left you a “While you were out ” card? The Royal Mail has a service where you can use their website to request re-delivery on the date you want to receive your item.
Just go to www.royalmail.com/redelivery and fill in the form. I have used this service several times and it does seem to work. Note that if your item is “recorded delivery” you only have one week to do this before your items is sent back to the sender.
