Archive for Jewellery
Lucky Black Cat Vintage Charms
Posted by: | CommentsHave you seen these little black glass cat charms? These vintage charms are getting quite rare and collectable these days . Originally they were in Christmas Crackers in circa 1920s to 1950s. These measure about 1.5 to 2 cms high.
Lucky black cat vintage charm
These lucky black cat charms cat be found with different collars, some have beads on their collars as well. Others have painted or crystal eyes. One of these vintage charms is a must for anyone collecting vintage costume jewellery charms. You can find glass charms depicting other animals as well. I have seen dogs, rabbits and even dolls. The glass can be black, green, clear, blue as well. May be there are more?
I’ve just managed to acquire 5 of these super little cats and they are now all listed over on the antiquesavenue.co.uk web shop priced at £28 each including delivery.
By the way if your interested in vintage charms I’ve recently acquired some great silver ones and will be back to tell you about them soon
Anne x
vintage cat charm
Wiener Werkstätte Jewellery
Posted by: | CommentsToday I’ve come across a piece of vintage jewellery from Wiener Werkstätte one of the great names in design and production from the early 1900s. Pieces made by Wiener Werkstätte are very rare and desirable these days so I am very pleased to be able to show you this vintage brooch
wiener werkstatte brooch
This brooch is made of base metal ( copper I think) and is enameled in black and which is a strong art deco style. Fastening on the back with a simple C catch and has an extended pin stem. There is also the full Wiener Werkstätte stamp as you can see here:
wiener werkstatte makers mark
If you would like to find out more about Wiener Werkstätte there is a great article on wikipedia.
wiener werkstatte back of brooch
Vintage brooches fresh selection
Posted by: | CommentsBusy adding loads of Vintage Brooches to my Vintage Jewellery shop at the moment. As regular readers know antique and vintage brooches are one of my favourite forms of vintage jewellery, their shapes, forms, colours and materials are probably more varied than any other piece of jewellery.
The brooches I have at the moment are mainly from the 1950s and before and include dragons, peacocks , Czechoslovakian pieces and of course lots of flowers. Adding this week and next is vintage costume jewellery brooches . There are glass and poured glass brooches, filigree with colourful glass stones and some bright enamels too. Here are a few group photos to feast your eyes on:
Vintage Brooch Selection
More Brooches
Vintage Brooches
There is one extra special old brooch I have here. Sorry its already sold but Saphirite brooches are so rare and this one is particularly special as it has a diamante inset to the central stone. This Sapirite brooch is in the shape of a horse shoe and measures about 2.7 cms long
Saphirite Brooch
Saphirite
Art Deco Earrings Colour Change Sapphires
Posted by: | CommentsArt Deco Earrings Colour Change Sapphires
I’ve spent a lot of time investigating these art deco vintage earrings today, they are so beautiful and rare I though I would show them to you.
At first glance , I though I had a nice but unremarkable pair of art deco amethyst set earrings. Then when I put them under artificial light I saw they were a stunning magenta colour which is certainly not something you would expect from amethysts. Out comes the gem testing machine and to my surprise they test as sapphires.
Art deco earrings
These colour change sapphires measures about 1 cm diameter and vary between a blue purple colour and a red magenta – sometimes you see both colours at once. These gems are very very clear and so I suspect that they have been treated in some way to create the colour or are possibly lab grown. I know that these techniques and treatments were available in the 1920s when these earrings would have been made.
Colour change
Any one knowing more about this type of stone , please do get in touch and let me know more.
Colour change sapphire
Looking at Cameo Jewellery, Hebe
Posted by: | CommentsAntique Cameo Jewellery often depicts classical scenes including those from Greek and Roman mythology. Before I add cameo jewellery to to my web shop I like to work out who the the characters in the cameo are. Today I found the lovely Goddess Hebe.
Hebe Cameo
Hebe is the Goddess of eternal your and beauty. Zeus was her father and her job was to serve nectar to the Gods. This cameo shows Hebe serving nectar to her father Zeus who has taken the form of an Eagle. Isn’t she lovely?
Vintage Cameo Rings
Posted by: | CommentsGreat news for all you cameo jewellery lovers, Ive managed to obtain a few more vintage rings set with cameos. I know there are several of you watching my shop waiting for me to add them and I promised to update you here.
Care of cameo rings
You need to take special care of cameo rings especially if they are made of shell. Cameos are delicately carved and shells are quite soft. wearing a cameos ring is probably best kept for special occasions. Wearing a cameo ring everyday will ruin it. Either the detail will wear away or the shell will crack and discolour. Love your cameo ring and keep it for best.
If you Cameo ring does get grubby you will need to know what the cameo is made of and treat the ring according to the material the cameo is made from rather than the metal of the ring. The metal will be more resilient than the cameo.
For a shell cameo you can use a drop of commercial pearl cleaner and follow the instructions on the jar. A drop of soft liquid soap such as wool wash in lukewarm water may well do the job. Use a soft brush, rinse and pat dry.
Cameo rings currently on AntiquesAvenue:
Angel Skin Coral Cameo Ring
Vintage Cameo Ring
Antique Cameo Ring
Wedgwood Jasper Cameo Compacts
Posted by: | CommentsVintage Compacts are very collectable with some costing several hundred pounds. One type of Vintage Compact which is highly sought after is those set with Wedgwood Jasper Cameo plaques.
Today I came across a particularly rare Wedgwood Jasper Cameo Compact which would be great for any compact collection or to accompany a collection of Cameo Jewellery. This compact was made by both Stratton and Wedgwood and features Paul Revere’s Ride. It is also nice to be able to put a name to the scene on a Wedgwood Jasper plaque.
Wedgwood Compact
According to the accompanying leaflet:
“Paul Revere and William Dawes, trusted couriers of the Patriots, rode on horseback from Charlestown, outside of Boston, into Lexington warning the countryside that the British were coming, under the direction of General Thomas Gage.
Revere and Dawes, with Dr Samyel Prescott, who joined them to help spread the tidings, went to Concord. They were intercepted by mounted British officers, but Prescott was able to make his way into Concord with the alarming news. Revere, who became an American folk hero, was captured but later released.”
Paul Revere's Ride
Have you a Wedgwood Jasper piece ( compact or otherwise) accompanied by Wedgwood’s description of the scene? If so it would be great to hear about it.
Britannia Silver
Posted by: | CommentsI came across a very unusual piece of 1970s jewellery today, it is special because it is made of Britannia Silver. Britannia silver is something not common these days as it is only used for the best pieces of Jewellery.
Britannia Silver Ingot
Britannia Silver was first used in England during the 1690s for coins and became a legal standard for Jewellery silver in the 172os. This special silver is marked with the Britannia symbol of a Lady seated on her throne. Britannia Silver is 95.84 % pure silver which is higher than the commonly seen Sterling Silver which is 92.5% pure.
I wanted to show you this Britannia Silver Ingot Pendant as it has very large hallmarks making it possible for me to photograph the Britannia symbol large enough for you to see it clearly. The gold colour is simply due to a gold plating rather than the main metal content of this piece of vintage jewellery. These vintage pendants are relatively common made from sterling silver.
Britannia Hallmark
There is only one other legal grade of silver currently in the UK which is 80% pure or 800 grade silver. Something to be aware of when looking at metals, do not confuse Britannia Silver with Britannia Metal. Britannia metal is a term you will regularly see on tea services ( teapots, coffee pots, milk jugs and sugar bowls) dating from circa 1920s to 1940s. Britannia Metal looks like pewter but has less lead content and no silver content at all.
Keep a look out for the Britannia Hallmark, I see very little Britannia Vintage silver jewellery and if you do manage to find any it should be quite high quality.
