Archive for Brooches
Wear your sparklers for Bonfire night
Posted by: | CommentsNovember 5th the day we celebrate gunpowder treason and plot with things that burn, bang and sparkle. This years why not brighten you yourself for bonfire night with some wearable sparklers of your own? Bonfire night is a time for wrapping up warm with lots of layers so we need jewellery which is big , bold, colourful and not too expensive for the occasion. Here is a great selection of vintage costume jewellery brooches from AntiquesAvenue which will make you stand out on the night.
Vintage brooches
Costume jewellery vintage brooches in firework colours can be pinned to your coat or used to hold a scarf in place. Why wear just one? Several can be pinned to a hat or a bag. Suitable colours include red, yellow, crystal clear, green and blue. Perhaps not the occasion for black or brown jewellery as it wont be seen in the dark.
A huge and sparkling vintage diamante brooch .This brooch has the diamante prong set into it which is a good sign of age and quality as this method of production was very time consuming. There are three articulated tails hanging down. In total this brooch measures about 8.5 cms long and up to 6 cms wide. I believe that this brooch dates from circa 1930s to 1950s. It is in really excellent condition.
Bonfire night history.
Do you know why we celebrate Bonfire night every year? Most of use know the old rhyme from childhood
“Remember Remember the 5th of November, gunpowder treason and plot.”
It was on November 5th 1605 when a plot to kill King James 1st was foiled. The group of men who were plotting against King James had planed to use gunpowder to blow up the house of Lords whilst the king was there. Once word got out that the plot had been foiled the people of London lit bonfires to celebrate it and an act of parliament was passed to ensure the day was celebrated anualy ( is this still Law ?)
Antique brooch diamond eye agate boxed
Posted by: | CommentsFrom AntiquesAvenue’s wondeful collectionof Vintage brooches:
A very special antique brooch made with central eye agate surrounded by a ring of old cut diamonds. This brooch comes in its original box. The central diamond and agate ring measures almost 2 cms long with the brooch being almost 5 cms long in total.
Vintage diamond brooch
Eye agate is agate banded with white so that it has the appearance of an eye
Buyers guide to vintage brooches
Posted by: | CommentsI have always thought that the vintage brooch was one of the most versatile and collectable pieces of vintage jewellery. Brooches are without doubt available in a much wider range of shapes, patterns and colours that other jewellery. The brooch can be a statement piece, add a splash of colour, be a small point of interest or a bold fashion statement. A brooch makes an easy vintage jewellery gift as you do not have to worry about the size too much. This buyers guide to vintage brooches helps you to sort through the wide choices available and choose the perfect brooch for you.
costume jewellery brooch
What are the important things to look for in a vintage brooch?
A brooch is a decorative piece of jewellery, to my mind when choosing a vintage brooch we should look at its age, size, shape, colour, material and quality.
The age of a brooch
With a little effort you can buy vintage brooches from the early 1800s Georgian era and certainly brooches from the Victorian era are relatively plentiful . These antique brooches are wonderful for collectors of antiques and those with an interest in the past but perhpas they are not quite as wearable as vintage brooches from the 20th century. Georgian and Victorian brooches fasten with a C shaped catch which is not as safe as newer styles of catch. An added safety chain would make the brooch less prone to being lost but these are not original to the brooch.
Georgian brooches are usually quite small and plain, you can wear them on very light fabrics including cotton and lace. Victorian ones are much bigger and bolder and best used to heavier fabrics such as tweed, velvet or cord. The sentimental silver brooch from the Victorian era is lighter , these include Mizpah and name brooches as well as brooches decorated with hearts and flowers.
Edwardian brooches and up to circa 1920s are generally lighter in weight and form than Victorian brooches . You can find very stylish art nouveau brooches from this time which are now quite collectible.
Original Art deco brooches and through the 1930s , 1950s and 60s to 1980s are wonderful. Look out for costume jewellery brooches from this time they are most creative in there design and colour and materials.
Size of a brooch
Art Deco brooch
The size of a brooch is important depending upon where you want to wear it. A large brooch needs a heavier material than a small pins type. Some ladies like to place a large brooch to distract the eye from the neck or bust line or to pin together two halves of a gaping blouse. A small brooch may not be noticed immediately and so is best when a more subtle effect is required. Do not rely on a small brooch to keep two pieces of material pinned together , it will probably not be strong enough.
The shape of a brooch
The shape of the brooch is very much a personal choice. You can find abstract and figural brooches. Brooches in strong art nouveau, art deco or modernist styles. One option often suggested by antiques experts is to buy pieces which are typical of their era for example a strong art deco shape for a brooch from the 1920s or something space age from the 1950s.
Brooch materials
In general terms the material which a brooch is made dictates its quality and its price. A gold brooch is going to be more expensive than a silver brooch which in turn will cost more than a piece of costume jewellery. Of course there are exceptions to this where a desirable piece of named designer costume can be more expensive than a cheaper light weight gold brooch from the 1970s.
The material that your brooch is made of can also affect its durablilty. Silver and gold are both strong and long lasting but do take care with some costume jewelley brooches which may not stand up so well to getting wet ( in the rain?) or being dropped ( glass and hard plastics)
Quality
As with most things, a good quality vintage brooch will generally cost more than a lower quality piece. What do we mean by quality when it
Antique brooch
comes to vintage brooches? I think that its more than a designer name, some designer brooches are quite expensive but not good quality. Quality is to do with how well the piece is designed, put together. A vintage diamond brooch with a large poor quality diamond is possibly not as desirable as one with lots of good quality diamonds well designed and well set. With costume jewellery a brooch which has prong set stones is generally better quality than a brooch where the stones are glued in. Hand made pieces of jewellery are normally better quality than mass produced factory made pieces .
Vintage brooch selection
Posted by: | CommentsAntiquesAvenue has a great fresh vintage brooch selection dating from antique brooches of the Georgian era through to art nouveau brooches and up to the 1970s. Here is a quick tour through the new selection starting with the oldest and working towards the 1950s / 1960s. Later in the week I will be back with a more in depth look at brooches from each era.
Georgian mourning locket brooch
Georgian brooch
I dont get many genuine Georgian brooches to offer you but here is an excellent example. This brooch is quite small so it was probably used as a lace pin. This pin has a central locket compartment containing a plait of hair. The compartment is surrounded by a row of closed back garnets, As you can see this brooch has an extended pin stem.
Victorian brooch
There is a whole section on AntiquesAvenue.co.uk dedicated to Victorian brooches. This week I have added a very colourful example and as it is costume jewellery it is very affordable at £28 including postage. This brooch has a typical Victorian frame made of gold toned metal and is set with an amethyst coloured glass stone. A great colour combination gold and amethyst.
Art Nouveau Brooch
Art Nouveau brooch
A typical piece of art nouveau jewellery from the early 1900s, This brooch shape could equally be seen as a pendant. It is made of gold and set with a real citrine gemstone and has seed pearls set into the scrolls. Seed pearls were a very popular inclusion in Art nouveau and Edwardian jewellery
Art deco era brooches
Art deco brooch
A genuine silver brooch from the art deco era set with marcasites and with a central citrine. Although a little rounded in style you can still see the art deco influence in the design its almost propeller shaped.
1950s / 1960s brooch
1950s / 1960s brooch
A birthday brooch made by Exquisite in the 1950s or 1960s. This is a costume jewellery brooch made of gold tone metal and with brightly enameled flowers
Bargain vintage brooches
Posted by: | CommentsEveryone loves a bargain but how can you spot a real bargain when looking for vintage jewellery? Heres a few tips for seeking out a real piece of jewellery from the past at a special price. Spotting a genuine bargain does not mean looking for the cheapest piece available. A cheap old brooch can be purchased for no more than £5 but that does not mean its a bargain if it will never be worth any more.
Gold and silver jewellery is very expensive at the moment compared to the past due to the high price of the metals involved but if you hunt carefully there are still pieces of vintage jewellery about which are real bargains . These are pieces which are not high fashion at the moment but may become so in the future. I have several ideas about pieces which are undervalued at the moment and so are real bargains. This article will be looking at bargain vintage brooches.
The gold bar brooch
Bar brooches are not as fashionable as other brooches. Todays fashion would be for figural brooches in the shape of an animal , bunch of flowers or a stylish geometric art deco brooch. The bar brooch is long and thin and is usually set with a central decorative piece such as a gemstone. These brooches original from the early 1900s and are normally found made of gold or silver. It is gold bar brooches that I think should be snapped up. They have little weight for their large size as they are long and thin. Due to the lighter weight the gold bar brooch is cheaper than a circular or figural piece. Imagine a real gold antique brooch for less than £40, they are about if you know where to look.
Here is just one example of a gold bar brooch you can find in AntiquesAvenue’s Victorian brooches section:
Vintage brooch
This antique brooch is made of 9 carat gold and set with a central amethyst glass stone. This is a very smart piece of Jewellery which would look good on a business suit or similar, I include a picture of what it would look like on emerald green as an example.
This is a genuine antique brooch dating from the Edwardian era in the early 1900s. It fastens with a simple C catch and measures about 4 cms long. What a bargain for a genuine piece of antique gold jewellery.
Vintage brooches in bulk
Coral brooch
As with most things in life you can get bargains if you buy in larger quantities. I do occasionally offer collections of vintage brooches which are at a bargain price per brooch. Another option is to go to auction and buy a whole lot of brooches, each one will be much cheaper than if you buy it individually. Another way is to ask the dealer for a discount if you buy several at once. For example my prices are fixed for just buying one or two items but ask nicely and buy more than three pieces at once and I would normally be able to offer you a small discount.
Craftsman Brooches
A third are to look for bargain vintage brooches is crfatsman made pieces. Jewellery. These are pieces of vintage jewellery which have been lovingly hand crafted and have taken many hours to make. Originally these pieces would have been quite expensive when purchesed new . Now they have become vintage and have passed between several owners their original value and cost has been forgotten.
It is possible to spot craftsman made pieces buy looking carfefully for the signs of handmade piece. Here are a two clues to look for:
- signed on the reverse even if you done recognise the signature. Here si do meqan signed rather than with a mass proiduced manufacturers mark.
- Made from silver or enamel, these tend to be the craftsmans materials of choice
Jabot Pin
Posted by: | CommentsThe Jabot Pin, A jabot pin is a special sort of vintage brooch which rarely seen or used these days. The pin is worn at the neck to keep a jabot in place with a jabot being a piece of lace or other material worn by men instead of a tie. The Jabot was worn in the 17th and 18th centuries and is rarely seen today except on ceremonial dress. In the UK you are most likely to see a Jabot being worn as part of formal Scottish evening dress.
The features that distinguish a Jabot pin from other brooches and pins is that is will have two sides which join some how. Here is a traditional Jabot pin with the first photograph showing it closed and the lower one showing the pin open:
Jabot pin open
Victorian Jabot Pin
Victorian Jabot Pin
Not all Jabot pins are as plain and simple as the one you see above. Here is a mechanical Jabot from circa 1970s ( see the Japanese Chrysanthemums in the design?). This pin opens when you depress the decorative finials at either side. This one is quite dangerous. The pins are spring loaded and come back into place when you release the finials. Very sharp too and so would pierce the material to keep it in place.
Back of Jabot
Vintage brooches gallery
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Vintage Brooches
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Vintage Brooches for Christmas
Posted by: | CommentsRegular readers will know that every year I make a selection of jewellery ideal for gifts this Christmas. Today it I am taking a look at vintage brooches and have some suggestions for all the ladies in your life .
Every lady from Grannie, your best girl friends and the youngest girls can wear a brooch. The great thing about them is that you do not need an exact size unlike rings and your gift will be appreciated and worn with several different outfits.
flower brooch
Vintage brooches for Grannie
As we get older and skin tones change ladies often like to wear paler colours. Maybe Vintage silver brooches would suit rather than bright colours. Silver is a popular material for brooches and there is a huge selection to choose from. Here are a couple of recommendations:
Large silver brooch Silver Locket brooch
Vintage brooches for your Mum or Aunt
Mums and Aunties love flowers so how about a brooch in the shape of a bunch or basket of flowers?
Flower basket brooch Flower Brooch
Vintage Brooches for your best friends
Stylish brooches for our friends I think – Scandinavian silver which has a touch of designer glam?
Scandinavian silver brooch Silver enamel Brooch
Vintage Brooches for Teenagers
Vintage is in fashion so how about a brooch with true vintage style – A cameo brooch or a piece of jewellery set with marcasites which are very vitnage 1959s looking?
antique silver brooch
Vintage marcasite brooch Cameo Brooch
Vintage Brooches for young girls
Young girls will want to wear a brooch with lots of glitz and shine so a vintage costume jewellery brooch would be in order. Alternatively how about an investment piece of jewellery? An antique brooch which will become an heirloom as the girl grows to a lady?