Stick pins, Ties pins, Lapel pins -  three different terms for the same piece of Jewelry. These little pins seem very quaint and old fashioned these days but they are also very collectible - I recently saw a show on television where even small and humble examples were valued at £100. For the purposes of this article when I refer to “stick Pin” I am also referring to Ties Pins and Lapel Pins.

What is a stick pin:The stick pin is smaller and less showy than a brooch but can be worn in much the same manner on the lapel of a jacket or pinned through a tie to both decorate it and keep it in place.  What differentiates it from a brooch is the way it is made and held in place. The stick pin has the decorative element at the top of a long stick rather than having a pin behind it. This allows the decorative detail to be very small if required. These were worn by Victorian and Edwardian  Gentleman and Ladies however these days they are more seen as Jewelry for Gentlemen.

How a stick pin works: Most antique stick pins have a spiral groove around the pin which was used to screw on a “keeper” which acted to prevent the stick pin from coming loose. This is one indicator in telling if your stick pin is antique or more modern as modern copies do not tend to have this groove. You can see an example of this groove in the third photo below of the opal stick pin.

 

 What is a Stick pin made of? The actually pin is normally made of metal, Gold, Gold plate , silver or steel. The heads were made of a huge range of materials : Gem set gold, shell cameo, tiny paintings under glass, jet, micromosaics and many more. Please visit my range of antique  stick pins for sale