Archive for Antique Jewellery
Agate Jewellery, Victorian Pebble gems
Posted by: | CommentsAgate is a colourful form of Quartz gemstone which can be cut and polished into Cabochons or panels and set into jewellery. There are lots of different decorative agates which have been used for hundreds of years but became particularly popular in the Victorian era as part of the Scottish trend. Many of these agates were mined in Scotland although it is found world wide. I have made a little video which takes a look at some of the wide variety of Agates available as antique and vintage jewellery.
Value of Agate Jewellery
Agate is not a particularly expensive stone as it is quite common. The more decorative and colourful the piece the more value it has. The value in a piece of agate set jewellery (often known as pebble jewellery) can be in the setting . A silver or gold piece of jewellery set with agate is going to be more valuable than agate set into costume jewellery. The shape of the piece of jewellery is also important as is the size. A Victorian pebble brooch can cost as little as £30 rising in cost with desirability to about £150. I would not expect to see one at a much higher price than this unless it was by a famous maker, set into a heavy gold frame or had some other factor to boost the price.
Care of Agate Jewellery
Agate is quite a hard stone and so will wear well in jewellery and which is why we see so many antique pieces still in good condition. Take care not to drop the piece as I do see agates with cracks in them from time to time. Store pieces separately so that they do not rub together.
If the piece of Agate jewellery is set into gold or silver it is possible to give it a wipe with a damp cloth to clean it without any harm. Some agates have been dyed and so I would avoid cleaning chemicals if possible.
Examples of Agate Jewellery:
AntiquesAvenue.co.uk usually has a few nice agate brooches for you to choose from . Please do take a look int he Antique Brooches section.
Agate Brooch
Victorian silver Brooches
Posted by: | CommentsVictorian Silver Brooches.
Over a year ago I wrote a little about how special Victorian brooches are as they are wearable as well as being antique. Today I am going to take a look at a few Victorian silver brooches. Silver brooches were very popular during the Victorian ear, silver was cheap compared with gold and much more workable that other metals available at the time. The range of silver brooches the Victorians made was huge , the included name brooches, Mizpah brooches, mourning brooches, Scottish brooches, Sentimental or Sweetheart brooches. A few more are religious silver brooches, good luck and friendship brooches and commemorative for large events such as Royal Jubilees.
Victorian silver brooches can be purchased from around £25 to about £140 . It is unusual for silver brooches of the Victorian era to be by named designers and also rare for them to be set with precious jewels and so although some exceptional brooches can be found they are rarely priced over this level unless set with a particularly well carved cameo (for example).
Here are a few collectable Victorian silver brooches for you to look at:
Antique Brooch hand painted porcelain bird of paradise
A genuine antique brooch set with a porcelain plaque which has been hand painted with a bird of paradise. This brooch is set into a silver frame ( tested not hallmarked) and has an attached safety chain. I have checked the painting under a magnifying glass and can confirm that the picture is hand painted .
Antique brooch Victorian name Fanny
This antique brooch dates from the Victorian era when name brooches like this were popular. Made of silver “Fanny” is entwined with leaves/ This is an unusually large antique name brooch being 6.4 cms long. As with most brooches of the Victorian era, this fastens with a simple C catch
Where do you find Victorian silver brooches?
As with any sort of vintage or antique jewellery , I suggest you have a look over at www.antiquesavenue.co.uk for your Victorian Brooch. eBay is another source of antique brooches but please do make sure that you check what you are buying and the seller to ensure that you have the genuine item and are not being sold a much newer copy. If you have the time you can take a wander around your local antique fair or antique center too.
How to care for victorian silver brooches
Silver is quite robust, after all your Victorian brooch is over a 100 years old and it will still be around in a hundred years time if you take good care of it. Check the condition of the hinge and catch before wearing the brooch. The catches were a simple C shape which comes undone much more easily than today’s safety catches. Possible a safety chain has been added to the brooch, if not you could consider adding one if it is done with care.
I suggest that you keep your silver reasonably clean without over polishing it. A light and careful clean after wearing will help to keep the salts from your fingers fro attacking the silver. Use a soft dry cloth to polish the silver rather than harsh chemicals. Perhaps a occasional wash under the tap if you have spilt perfume or make up onto the brooch but never use a washing up liquid with lemon in it as citrus attacks silver.
Dont just throw your Victorian silver brooches into a jewellery box with all your other pieces of jewellery as they can easily damage each other . You could wrap each brooch individually in a piece of Acid free tissue paper or pin them to cushions to display them.
Victorian costume Jewellery
Posted by: | CommentsPart 2b of AntiquesAvenue’s guide to the history of costume jewellery covers The Victorian Era.
The Victorians loved jewellery of all kinds and when they couldnt afford precious stones and metals they wore jewellery made from non precious materials which we now know as Costume Jewellery.
Victorian Costume Jewellery Influences:
There were two main influences on the jewellery during the Victorian era :i) Queen Victoria herself and ii) new discoveries and innovations
i) Queen Victoria’s influence on Jewellery style can be seen with mass market copies of the Jewellery which the queen wore herself. When she had a interest in all things Scottish then celtic and pebble jewellery became fashionable. This influence was seen in both the materials used in jewellery and also in the shapes with Penannular shields, Kilt pins, Dirks, Scottish Crosses and buckles all being popular. When she went into mourning following the death of Prince Albert then the whole country took to deep mourning following the death of loved ones and the fashion for black jewellery was created. Victorian Jewellery of this kind is highly sought after these days.
ii) New discoveries and innovations. New materials became available ( see below) and these were quickly used in costume jewellery also with technological progress new manufacturing techniques were invented. These manufacturing techniques meant that costume jewellery could be mass produced making it cheaper and more widely available. The new techniques included: the machine stamping of parts so that not everything had to be handmade as it was in previous eras. It was possible to inlay silver and gold into tortoishell . Aluminium was commercially produced from the 1860s and new discoveries of semi precious gems and new ways of cutting them brought their prices way down.
Costume Jewellery materials of the Victorian Era:
Jet Brooch
1. Jet, Gutta Percha, Bog Oak: The best Jet was from Whitby. A highly polished form of black glass known as French Jet was a cheap substitute. Gutta Percha is a natural material derived from rubber . Bog oak from Ireland is fossilised wood and often carved with shamrock shapes. All these have a dark black colour and were used in mourning jewellery
2. Rolled Gold , Gold Plate , Gold coloured metal, Iron. Used as substitutes for Gold and silver. Pinchbeck was still available but gradually faded from popularity.
3. Glass and Glass mosaics. Glass was used widely – as covers for locket panel, as beads in black and deep red, as paste stones . It was also formed into artificial cameos. Tiny glass tiles in different colours were put together to form micromosaic pictures mainly made in Italy.
4. Coral, Shell, Fish bone, pearls, tortoiseshell, mother of pearl. Materials from the sea once rare become more widely available as transport links improved. Shells were popular for carving into cameo jewellery
5. Early Plastics : celluloid, imitation coral, Parkasine. The Victorians invented plastics however the early plastics have not survived the years well , it has faded, cracked and generally disintegrated. Little Victorian plastic jewellery remains of any worth today.
6. Agate , semi precious gemstones and other hardstones: Popular for celtic type jewellery. new innovations and discoveries made it possible for these to be offered on the mass market. There is quite a wide range of Genuine Victorian hardstone and semi precious set costume jewellery available for us to buy today.
agate brooch
7. Hair, Teeth, claws, Horn, Bone, Ivory: Animal parts. The Victorians loved natural parts materials and wore them without the squeamishness that some of us (me included) would have today about such items. Hair jewellery was often made from the hair of a departed loved one – worn as bracelets, watch chains or in a locket. Tiger tooth brooches, animal claws and and teeth all mounted as brooches. There was no concern over conservation of elephants and ivory was widely .
8. Porcelain and pottery. Ceramic cabochons could be painted at home and decorated with flowers before being set into jewellery but most often porcelain plaques were printed with a scene from a classical European painting. These were popular holiday souvenirs.
The Jewellery Style of the Victorian Era
When Queen Victoria first reigned there was a naturalistic, romantic feel to jewellery. The Language of Flowers became popular with different flowers having different meanings for example Forget-me-nots were for true love. Once Prince Albert died the fashion became black and somber. This lasted until the later Victorian era (1880’s onwards) when colour once again appeared in all things.
There was also the influence of Gothic and medieval in early Victorian times . By the time of the Great Exhibition in Crystal palace (1851) design had become very ornate and heavy with almost everything being over ornamented. The Victorian aesthetic of the 1870s with its Japonaise feel was more simplistic.
At the very end of the Victorian era even simpler more naturalistic shapes and forms were revived with medieval and Scottish and Celtic themes being popular once more. This was part of the stylistic rebellion led by Ruskin pushed away from this heavy Victorian ornamentation and led to the arts and Crafts movement with its return to artistic values.
porcelain brooch
Costume Jewellery History part 2a Georgian invovations
Posted by: | CommentsThe term Costume Jewellery was not used by the Victorians and the Georgians before them but they did make lots of use of non precious materials in their jewels. These are the earliest examples of costume jewellery which have survived in any quantity and are available to purchase today. Part 2a discusses innovations in costume Jewellery which were made during the Georgian era and 2b takes a long look at Victorian Costume Jewellery
Georgian Costume Jewellery Materials:
Paste Jewellery was introduced in the Georgian era , a high quality imitation of real gemstone jewellery. The “Gemstones” were made of glass which was often foil backed and could be cut and polished just like the real thing but at a much more affordable price. These paste gems were set into all types of jewellery and they can still be found today, I think a particularly interesting collecting field is paste set buckles which can be found from around £20 upwards.
Pinchbeck was a high quality alternative to gold, it looked like the real thing. Genuine pinchbeck items are quite rare today, many of the items described as pinchbeck are in fact gold plated. Pinchbeck is not plated but a metal where the gold colour continues all the way though – check at points of wear such as edges and hinges. If the metal colour shows signs of plating it is not pinchbeck. Pinchbeck is quite light in weight in comparison to gold, it is made from an alloy of Zinc and Copper.
Cut steel jewellery consisted of lot of tiny faceted metal studs which were set onto back plates, this sparkled almost like diamonds under the artificial lighting of the day. Something which looked similar to cut steel jewellery was marcasite set jewellery – again faceted and black but this time the studs are a natural crystal of Iron Pyrites. Most marcasite jewellery you see today is 20th century in origin so please check very carefully if you think you have a piece of Georgian marcasite jewellery.
cut steel brooch
Wedgwood first introduced their jasper cameo jewellery in the Georgian era and these are still being made to this day
Vauxhall glass is a type of mirrored glass often in black or ruby red colour. This had been invented before the Georgian era but most of the pieces available today in Vauxhall glass are Georgian or sometimes Victorian. The glass is beveled / faceted at the edges and tiny pieces make up the piece of jewellery.
vauxhall glass buckle
Georgian Costume Jewellery Forms:
So what forms were these costume jewellery materials set into? In the early part of the Georgian era the French Rococo style was in fashion. This is scrolling and asymmetrical perhaps a complex forerunner of art nouveau style. In the 1750s large flower brooches were high fashion and rings could be worn on any finger. Sentimental and mourning jewellery was widely worn – look out for date and dedicated Georgian mourning brooches which can still be acquired for under £50.
From the mid 1700s the “Grand Tour” was popular with those who could afford the trips to see the ancient world this led later on in the 1790s to the Georgian style became much simpler with the Neo-classical taste taking over. This had very simple uncluttered lined when compared with the earlier rococo pieces. Here we see Greek key patterns and Etruscan influences and, of course, a rise in popularity of the cameo.
georgian classical cameo brooch
In the early 1800s wearing lots of jewellery at the same time was popular: several rings, several rows of pinchbeck chains, long pendant earrings and several bracelets all at the same time. With this quantity of jewellery only the rich could afford real and those aspiring to look the part turned to costume jewellery
Between about 1820 and the early Victorian era a more naturalistic style was apparent – flower brooches of all types. Cut Steel jewellery was still popular and coral was re-introduced as a must have fashion. In the 1820s wearing hair jewellerywas all the rage with necklaces and bracelets at the same time.
This leads us up to the Costume Jewellery of the Victorian era which is the subject of my next blog entry
10 ways to care for vintage jewellery
Posted by: | CommentsHave you a collection of vintage jewellery or antique jewellery – perhaps you have just one or two pieces. These precious gems need special care and attention, Here is my ten point guide to the caring for them:
1. Keep an inventory of your vintage jewellery
Vintage Jewellery can be valuable, is difficult to replace and often has sentimental meaning to its owner. If you have an inventory of your jewellery you will be at least be able to insure in case of loss, damage or burglary. Keep all your receipts from when you purchase your jewellery, take a photograph or two of each piece as well. Jewellery is very difficult to photograph clearly but even a bad photo is better than nothing. Are there any makers markings or hallmarks? Copy these down which will help to find a replacement if necessary. Also note down the size of each piece.
vintage earrings
2. Check the condition regularly
Jewellery should be checked fairly regularly to ensure that there is no wear. The settings on rings become worn and you can loose a stone, strings of beads or pearls wear and you could loose some precious stones if attention is not paid to the wear before it becomes to late. If you do not know what to look for take the piece to your jeweller who will give your precious antiques a health check.
3. Keep your vintage jewellery clean – but do not over clean
Make sure you do not get perfume and make up onto your vintage jewellery. This will tarnish or discolour your pieces. You can clean your jewels occasionally but check that you are using the right method of cleaning for they materials and dont clean off any of the finish. Gold gilt will wear off as will paint and lacquer
4. Wear pieces seperately
If you wear more than one item of vintage jewellery at a time please do keep them separate as the pieces will wear against each other. For example two rings worn on the same finger especially if the golds are of different carats.
5. Wear pieces carefully
I suggest that you do not wear your vintage and antique jewellery every day to keep it at its best. This would especially apply to rings. Necklaces, brooches and earrings are all subject to wear and so are perhaps best kept for special occasions. Or why not just have several pieces and rotate them so no one piece gets too much wear?
6. Take care with storage
You vintage jewellery should be stored carefully – each piece should be separated from the next by lint free cloth or acid free tissue. If stored together in a box pieces will scratch and rub each other.
7. Choose your jewellery carefully
If you take a piece to be services or repaired take care when selecting your jeweller. Not every high street jewellery is experienced with vintage gems. Ask around first – you need someone with specialist knowledge so as not to destroy the piece or its value.
8. Do have pieces restored if necessary
So the worst has happened, your vintage ring has lost a stone, a clasp on a necklace is broken or the pin on a brooch. It is worth taking the time and expense to have a good piece of vintage jewellery repaired but see point 7 and ensure this is done correctly
9. Buy a Jewellery loupe
If you are buying lots of vintage and antique jewellery I suggest that you get a jewellers loupe ( a special x10 magnifying glass) this really does help to examine pieces up close. And learn how the loup properly
10.Learn about your jewellery
If you dont know what you’ve got ask an expert, buy a book or look it up on the internet. If you have a very special piece I migh take a look for you – just send me a photo in . jpg format and I will write about it here on my blog
Bog Oak – more black Victorian Jewellery
Posted by: | CommentsA bit about Bog Oak
From my postbag:
How about Bog Oak? I have a brooch that I think is. I’m not sure. Can you tell me a little about it? And maybe how to tell if bog oak is the material?
My Reply:
Bog Oak Jewellery
Bog Oak was popular in Victorian Antique Jewellery especially for a mourning piece. It was easier to find and work than Jet but cannot be polished as highly and the shapes achieved are much simpler. So Bog Oak jewas cheaper as the finished article. Bog oak jewellery remains cheaper than jet jewellery today. Bog Oak is the wood of Oak Trees that has long since fallen into peat bogs in Ireland and been preserved and become black in colour. You will often see it carved with Shamrock patterns and occasionally set with pearls.
How can you tell if it is bog oak? It is matt in appearance ( unlike jet which tens to be highly polished) and you can see a wood grain if you look carefully. None of the other materials popular in Victorian Mourning jewellery has the wood grain. Please take care not to get this material wet – just clean with a soft dry brush.
Victorian Jewellery – how it was influenced by the Queen
Posted by: | CommentsVictorian Jewellery – Queen Victoria’s influence on the fashion of the time
Queen Victoria (1819 – 1901) was a hugely popular and fashionable figure during the Victorian age. In all things, whatever she chose was quickly followed by her subjects wanting the same thing – Jewellery was no exception and whatever the Queen was seen wearing soon became the must have high fashion item of the day. When we look at Antique Jewellery today we can still see this influence in the abundance of particular types of jewellery and the dates at which they were most popular.
Snake Jewellery
From what I can find the first big influence the Queen’s Jewellery had on Victorian Society was when Prince Albert gave the young Queen an engagement ring in the form of a snake which was set with an emerald. Of course this would play to Victorian sentimentality and hidden meaning – the snake or serpent for “Eternity” and an Emerald for “Hope”. How very romantic. They married in 1840. The snake was popular in jewellery for the rest of the Victorian era – you can find ring and also bracelets , brooches and necklaces all with a snake or two. How about a stick pin with two snakes heads?
As wedding gifts Victoria and Albert exchanged wedding gifts. Victoria gave Albert a “collar of the Garter” and Albert gave Victoria a Sapphire and diamond brooch. Both the Garter motiff and the Diamond brooch became widely worn after this event although diamonds were not quite as abundant at that time as they became following the finding of diamonds in South Africa in the late 1860s.
Victoria and Albert both loved all things Scottish and during the 1840s spent a lot of time there eventually buying Balmoral Castle in 1848. This set a trend for all things Scottish and traditional Scottish Jewellery became widely worn. Much of this Scottish jewellery is made of silver or gold and set with Scottish agate hard stone panels and semi precious stones such as citrines. Much of this is of traditional design – a Scottish dirk or a kilt pin, you certainly can see the Celtic influence in many pieces.
Prince Albert died in 1861 and Queen Victoria’s mourning set the fashion for wearing black for long periods of time following the death of a loved one. Along with the black clothes came black jewellery . Victorian black mourning jewellery was made from Bog Oak, Gutta percha, black enamel and a favourite due to the way it could be carved and polished was Whitby Jet. Victorian mourning jewellery is big and bold quite different from the dainty mourning jewellery of the Georgian eras.
Victorian jet brooch
Queen Victoria celebrated a couple of important jubilee’s – 1887 and 1897 – you can fin brooches, medals, charms, fobs and stick pins all celebrating these big events in her life.
Towards the end of her life Victoria had a lesser influence on the fashion trends of her subjects. Mourning became less deep and as the fashions for clothing became lighter so did jewellery. Take a look at your jewellery from the Victorian era – can you see the Queens influence?
Many of the pieces of jewellery that Queen Victoria influenced can still be found today – genuine antique Victorian Jewellery need not cost more than the modern jewellery of today so Happy Hunting.
5 vintage cameos – works of art set as Jewellery
Posted by: | CommentsToday I’m taking a look at the variety of cameos available to be worn as Jewellery. The cameo is a picture which stands above the background it is set on – a miniature work of art. Here are just five cameos available from antiquesavenue:
1. The classical Victorian Cameo brooch
The classical Victorian cameo brooch depicts a the profile of a Roman lady. These were hand carved in Italy and brought back from the Grand tour. Sometimes the picture is of the lady who was on the grand tour who had the cameo carved in her own likeness . These cameos are made from shell . When you are buying a cameo like this do hold it up to a strong light so that you can check it for cracks.
cameo brooch
This cameo has the advantage of being carved from marble which was stone white. Marble was not as easy to carve as shell and so usually is not quite so intricate but still very interesting. Again this cameo brooch would have been made in Italy.
Very rare and very sought after. Cameo habilles are dressed with their own tiny Jewels. This ring has a cameo habille set into one set – the lady is wearing a diamond. Some cameos are carved so that they depict jewellery being worn ut this is not the same . To be a true cameo habille the piece must have added jewellery
4. A pinchbeck cameo
This Classical gent is Asclepius – son of Apollo and God of Medicine. In addition to being well carved he is set into a pinchbeck frame. Pinchbeck is a highly sought after gold substitute which had not been available since the Victorian era.
wedgwood cameo
5. A Wedgwood Cameo
Wedgwood cameos are made from jasper and available is a whole range of colours. This ring is white on black. AntiuqesAvenue also has white on blue and white on green cameos. These cameos are not carved but the white areas are moulded and applied to the coloured background in a process known as sprigging. Cameos are available in other colours and colour combinations but these are quite rare. Wedgwood mounted their cameos in gold, silver and sometimes base metal so do check before you buy. If you can see the reverse please take a look and see if the Wedgwood name is present as other makers also produced this type of cameo.
