Archive for Materials
Bloodstone for seals and spinners
Posted by: | CommentsHave you ever seen old jewellery set with a dark green stone with red flecks in it? This is known as bloodstone or sometimes as heliotrope. This is a hardstone which was popular during the Victorian era for setting into fobs and seals however it can also be carved as a cameo or used in bead form.
The name bloodstone was given to this semi precious stone as in the Middle ages it was thought that the red spots were the blood of Christ and it was used as an amulet or charm against blood loss
Here are a few examples of antique jewellery set with bloodstone so that next time you see this stone you will recognise it.
Bloodstone spinner
Bloodstone seal
Are you looking for more Victorian Antique fobs and seals? There are always a few in antiquesavenue shop and usually some set with bloodstone.
Aventurine by chance gemstone
Posted by: | CommentsAventurine by chance
Aventurine is a lovely green colour, the colour of jade or emerald. This gemstone is enhanced by flecks of mica or hematite which give a the polished surface a sparkling effect known as Aventurescence. Aventurine can also be found in other colours such as grey or red / brown.
Aventurine is found in Brazil, India and Russia amongst other countries.
So why do I call it the ” by chance ” gemstone? Aventurine comes from the Italian “A ventura” which translates to By chance and refers to a lucky find by an Italian of a type of glass containing flecks which can be used to imitate both aventurine ( green) and gold stone ( brown with gold flecks). This imitation is also used widely in jewellery but you should easily be able to tell the difference with a 10x lens where the glass will show the copper spangles as opposed to the more natural flecks in Aventurine.
Aventurine was popular during the art deco era as the green colour matched the fashion of the time.
In crystal healing Aventurine is supposed to be supporting and comforting. I calms anger and aids recovery.
The vintage jewellery necklace shown here is an original piece of art deco jewellery made with Aventurine polished into small slabs. It can also be found as beads, cabochons and even carved into cameos.
Art Deco Aventurine necklace vintage jewellery
An original art deco necklace made of Aventurine (an apple green coloured natural gemstone with silver flecks inside. This necklace is on a gold thread coloured cord with gold coloured thread wrapped between each piece of aventurine. This is a wonderful piece of original vintage jewellery which measures about 45 cms long. The longest piece of aventurine is 2 cms deep.
Amethysts, The sobriety Jewel
Posted by: | CommentsIs your vintage jewellery set with a purple or violet gemstone? If so there is a good chance that that stone is amethyst. The amethyst is a popular gemstone which varies from a light violet to a deep Royal Purple in colour . The amethyst is a purple form of quartz.
amethyst jewellery
The amethyst in history and legend
The ancient Greeks and Romans believed that the amethyst protected from drunkenness, drinking from an amethyst bowl would keep you sober. In fact the word amethyst is derived from the ancient Greek work for intoxicated. The Legends of the Gods include variations of stories about Dionysus’s tears staining quartz purple to form amethyst.
The amethyst has been worn as a gemstone since at least Egyptian times
Is this a real amethyst or a piece of costume jewellery?
Whilst amethysts are quite abundant and not over particularly expensive as gemstones go, not every purple or violet stone you find is real. Some amethyst coloured stones are made of glass. Look deep into the amethyst with a 10 x magnifying class. Can you see round bubbles? if so it is most likely to be glass. Can you see tiger stripes? If so then your amethyst could well be real. You will need to take your gemstone to an experienced jewellery to be sure.
What makes an Amethyst valuable?
Like all gemstones the larger the better and the clearer the better. Amethysts can be quite opaque and cloudy and such stones are often turned into beads.
Care of Amethyst jewellery.
The amethyst is quite a tough material measuring 7 on Mohs scale . This means that any jewellery set with amethysts will be quite durable and it is suitable for wearing in rings. As with all jewellery you need to take a look at what the stone is set into before you decide how to clean it. If the amethyst is set into silver or jewellery and with no other stones present you may clean it in an ultrasonic cleaner without any real harm. Alternatively a quick dip in liquid jewellery cleaner should be OK ( not silver dip) . Rinse well and pat dry.
Vintage Jewellery set with Amethysts
Here are a few examples of vintage jewellery set with amethysts available from antiquesavenue:
vintage amethyst jewellery
vintage pendant pearl amethyst silver baroque
What an amazing vintage pendant and is in the antique baroque style although it actually dates from the early 1900s. This pendant is made of silver and set with a central real amethyst and baroque and round pearls (I am presuming the round pearls are cultured although I cannot test these without damaging them). The smaller “amethysts” are coloured glass. I have added a newer silver chain so that this pendant is ready to wear.
Material:Silver, amethyst and costume jewellery Size: Pendant is 4 cms long and 3.6 cms wide. The silver chain is 60 cms long-Age:Early 1900s Condition: Excellent
Antique lavalier 9 carat gold amethyst
gold ring diamond and amethysts
A wonderful antique style gold ring made of fully hallmarked nine carat gold and set with real amethysts and diamonds. This ring sparkles wonderfully. The head of the ring measures about 6 mm wide. It is UK ring size just over O, USA 7.5
Amber, Jewellery from prehistory to today
Posted by: | CommentsAmber was one of the original jewellery materials used by our ancestors since the Bronze age or possibly before. The Greeks, Romans and ancient Celts all treasured amber set jewellery. More recently into Victorian Jewellery, in the Art Deco era and of course Amber is very popular nowadays. AntiquesAvenue takes a little look Amber and how it is used in Jewellery.
About Amber
Amber is the fossilized resin of pine trees, in the main it has been under the sea for 60 million years. Amber is found in a range of colours, normally we see it in honey shades but it can vary from a pale whitish or lemon colour through to almost black. Cherry red amber is very sought after and a natural amber in shades of blue is most rare. Natural amber is cut, carved and polished into the required shapes. As it is very soft for a gemstone is is possible to carve it quite intricately or alternatively it can be faceted. Most often we see amber polished smooth.
Antique Amber pendant
Care of Amber Jewellery
As Amber is quite soft it needs to be handled with some care, store it separately or protected from other pieces of jewellery so that it does not scratch. Also avoid leaving it in direct sunlight for a long time. Solvents in perfume and hairspray can damage your amber, the best thing to do is to use these first and put your amber jewellery on after. Perhaps clean it as soon as practicable after wearing.
When cleaning your amber jewellery please do not use an ultra sonic cleaner or harsh chemicals and do not use a jewellery dip. A soft cloth and a very tiny drop of pure olive oil are often recommended. If the jewellery is set into gold or silver you could try and clean the metal without toughing the amber.
How to tell Amber from Faux Amber
As Amber is so popular these days the price is rising and so fake or faux amber jewellery is being produced. How can you tell a real piece of amber from a piece of plastic or resin jewellery? The traditional method was to make a saturated salt solution, amber will float in this where as glass or plastic would sink. This method does not work on pieces of amber which are set into metal as they would sink with the weight of the metal. I have heard that if you stick a hot needle into amber that it smells of pine trees. I am not going to try this on a piece of amber jewellery as it would be damaged.
Here are two tests that you can try on your jewellery. Rub it against a piece of wool, its electrostatic properties produce static electricity which will attract dust. Secondly amber can glow a greenish yellow under an ultraviolet lamp
Amber Jewellery
Value of Amber Jewellery
Amber Jewellery can be purchased fro about £20 upwards depending on the age, setting, size of the piece and craftsmanship. Very occasionally a piece of amber is found with an insect trapped into it and such pieces if genuine would fetch a few hundred pounds or more. Beware of fakes if the amber is set with an insect though and only buy from a very trusted source. Please pop over to my vintage jewellery shop at www.antiquesavenue.co.uk where I like to have one or two pieces of amber in stock.
Cinnabar Lacquer Jewellery
Posted by: | CommentsCinnabar Lacquer Jewellery
I really want to show you this wonderful bangle and brooch set made of Cinnabar Lacquer. This is original vintage costume jewellery dating from the art deco era. During the 1920s / 1930s this type of jewellery was quite popular but is becoming much rares and hard to find these days.
Cinnabar is a naturally occuring mineral with a brick red colour and has been used since the ancient times but it was the Chinese made these pieces which have been hand carved.
cinnabar brooch
vintage costume jewellery
6 things about vintage gold jewellery
Posted by: | CommentsWhen we look at a piece of antique vintage jewellery which is gold coloured, how do we know if it is real gold or not?
There can be a huge difference in value between a piece of gold coloured metal and a piece of real gold. For example : we have two vintage rings both gold in colour but one is just gold coloured metal and the other is 22 carat gold and they both weigh about 4 grams. The gold coloured metal ring is probably worthless – completely without value. The 22 carat gold one is worth at least the “scrap” value of the gold which is about £17 a gram as I write this giving out ring a value of at least £68.
vintage gold jewellery
Here are 6 pointers to help you decide if your piece of vintage jewellery is gold or just gold coloured.
1. Hallmarks. You will need a magnifying glass or loup to read these. Refer to my article on hallmarking or look up the marks in a hallmark book. If the piece has genuine gold hallmarks then there is no doubt that it is gold. You can use the hallmarks to determine which strength or carat of gold your jewellery is. By the way many marks you find on a piece of antique or jewellery are not real hallmarks – some have been put there to deceive or are simply the makers brand mark
2. Other marks : Does your piece of jewellery read “rolled gold”? or how about Gold filled, Gold plated or gold front and back? None of these are solid gold but all of them have some gold content. They have a thin gold layer on top of a base metal beneath. Rolled gold and Gold front and back items are still quite collectible.
3. Colour. Do not worry if your gold coloured item has a pinky colour or looks warmer in tone than modern jewellery. It might still be gold. Rose Gold has a little copper in the mix which gives the lovely colour. This was popular at the beginning to the last century. The colour does not help us to determine if it is gold or not
4. Visual clues: take your magnifying loup and look at the edges of your piece of vintage jewellery, especially at the places where it will rub. Are there any signs of wear and you can see through to the metal below. If so, sorry its not gold. Is there any greenish patches? if so then again its not gold. Overall does the gold look faded or dirty in places? Give the piece a light clean. Gold should clean up nice and shiny, if not its unlikely to be a real piece of gold jewellery.
5. Testing for gold. Testing an unmarked piece of vintage jewellery to see if it is gold is done with acid. you can get a jewellery to do this for you or buy a testing kit yourself. I personally would not recommend testing it yourself unless you wish to become an expert and spend many hours learning how the acid reacts with the gold and base metals. Also the acid is very dangerous and you have to use it with the utmost care and in the correct conditions as detailed on the kit you buy.
6. Yellow Metal. Yellow Metal is a term you often see in an auctioneers catalogue to describe a gold coloured piece of vintage jewellery. But is it gold? Well the answer to that is maybe. The auction houses are bound by law to describe something accurately. Unless the piece is hallmarked they cannot call it gold unless they can prove that it is. Providing proof ( eg testing) is too difficult and expensive for the amount of jewellery they handle and so they simply call it ” yellow metal” which no one can dispute.
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?
