Archive for Vintage Brooch
Antique and Vintage Brooches
Posted by: | CommentsThere’s a lot of fresh antique and vintage brooches on antiquesavenue this week. From Victorian through to the 1950s, there has to be a brooch for every taste. Here is a quick tour of these brooches
Victorian Amethyst Brooch
Victorian Amethyst Brooch
Here’s a genuine Victorian brooch set with a real amethyst and with a glass covered locket panel at the back containing a lock of hair. This brooch is made of gold toned metal and it also has a hinged loop so that it can be worn on a chain as a pendant.
This Victorian brooch measures about 5.5 cms long. At some stage during its life this brooch has been repaired and there are signs of this. Now the brooch is solid and wearable but offered at a bargain price due to the repairs
A very unusual Victorian cameo brooch. This cameo is carved from agate and I believe the gentleman in the picture is Napoleon. Agate cameos are much rarer than shell cameos partially because it is much harder to carve. Finding a cameo brooch where you can name the subject is also quite rare making this a very good piece of antique jewellery.
Art Nouveau Cameo Brooch
Art Nouveau Cameo Brooch
Here is a super and really rare cameo carved from Queen Conch giving a beautiful pale pink and white colour. The cameo depicts an art nouveau lady and an owl with its wings open . This is the first time I have seen this cameo. The cameo is set into a gold toned frame, in total the brooch measures about 5.2 cms long and about 4.4 cms wide.
Over the years this brooch has suffered a little with the frame being a bit wobbly ( there is one of 4 pins missing at the back) and the catch has been repaired at some point. The cameo its self has faired much better, the line you can see in the revers is from the original shell and does not go through to the design. There are two short tiny stress lines but the cameo really is sound in itself.
1950s moon glow Lucite Brooches
Moon glow Lucite brooches
A stunning pair of vintage brooches made of pink moon glow Lucite and dating from the 1950s. The brooches have moon glow Lucite beads and also matching pink aurora borealis beads. Each brooch has multiple tassels hanging down. These brooches measure up to 7 cms long and will make a real statement when worn especially if you wear both together.
Vintage brooches, this Christmas’s gift for the future
Posted by: | CommentsYesterday I took a look at what types of vintage jewellery were suitable gifts for different sorts of people this Christmas. Today I will take a look at vintage silver brooches which would be suitable to give to a baby girl to be kept for the future ( and most definitely not to be worn or played with until she gets much older)
Suggesting that you give a vintage silver brooch to a baby girl may at first seem strange but this was certainly common practice in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Just look at this one which was made specially :
Baby Brooch
Antique silver Baby brooch Victorian 1897 hallmark
antique brooch
antique brooch
Antique Brooch Edwardian silver Faith Hope Charity
I liek the symbolism on this brooch, what a nice though for a babys future. A pretty little Antique brooch dating from the Edwardian era – It has full hallmarks for 1903 and is decorated with the Symbols for Faith ( cross) Hope ( Anchor) and Charity or Love ( Heart). This silver brooch measures about 4.3 cms long and fastens with a simple C catch.
victorian silver name brooch
How about finding an antique Victorian brooch with babys name on it?
Victorian silver name brooch Annie
longcms Victorian name brooches are very popular today both with collectors and to be given as a gift to someone with the same name. This Victorian name brooch is Annie , it is made of fully hallmarked sterling silver and measures about 4
There are plenty more for you to look at over in my shop. Tomorrow I will take a look at a few antique silver Fobs for that special Christmas present for a baby boy.
victorian silver name brooch
A Vintage Brooch, the perfect gift
Posted by: | CommentsAntiquesAvenue loves all Vintage Jewellery including Vintage Brooches and Antique Brooches too . Brooches come in all shapes and sizes and are made of a wide range of materials and Vintage brooches have changed throughout the last 200 years. This article looks at Vintage Brooches from the 20th Century and the differences throughout that time.
What type of vintage brooch was popular when?
The art deco era - the roaring ’20s saw all things bright and bold in fashion and brooches were no exception. At the top end large diamonds, emeralds and rubies set into white gold reflecting the colours of the time. These brooches would be angular and geometric in shape. The 1920s also had a phase of oriental and Egyptian style: oriental fans, Egyptian scarabs, exotic dancers were all brought to life in brooches. Bakelite brooches from the 1920s are very sought after
art deco brooch
The 1930s had a more English country garden feel – think crinoline lady designs and chintzy patterns. Vintage flower brooches suited the 1930s fashion, the colours were softer and more muted than in the 1920s.
The 1940s was the cocktail era for brooches – big and bold with lots of metal. These brooches whilst large were often made of quite thin metals as materials were scarce. This means that although the brooches from the 1940s are large they are not too heavy to wear. The ballet was a popular theme in brooches and flowers remain popular too. Look out for lucite brooches these are becoming increasingly collectable and can still be found at a reasonable price.
The 1950s broght us space age in design and star burst and comet brooches followed the general trend. New innovations such as the aurora borealis stone were rapidly adopted for costume jewellery and were at their boldest in brooches. Look out for cute poodle brooches.
1950s brooch
Similarly brooches from the 1960s and 1970s reflected the trands and fashions of the time.
So as you can see there really is a huge variery of vintage brooches to select from – perhaps more than any other form of jewellery.
Vintage Brooches are super to wear and to give as gifts, perhpas easier to give than other forms of vintage jewellery as the size does not have to be as accurate as say a ring or bracelet. There really is the widest range available many of these brooches appear as miniature works of art in there own right and as such also make a great collection. The brooches available from www.AntiquesAvenue.co.uk in the Vintage Brooches section are from circa 1920 to circa 1970s but you will find an exceptional newer brooch appearing from time to time.
This article was originally published on antiquesavenue.co.uk to help customers select the right vintage brooch as a gift.
Vintage Jewellery News, brooches added to AntiquesAvenue shop
Posted by: | CommentsBeen busy adding Vintage Jewellery into AntiquesAvenue shop again this week. In particular there are some lovely new vintage brooches including Vintage Costume Jewellery brooches. Remeber if you are thinking of giving Vintage jewellery as a gift then a vintage or antique brooch is often the best piece : there is a huge variety of shpes, forms and materials to choose from and one size fits all.
Here are a few of the lovely vintage brooches fresh to antiquesavenue this week:
Antique Brooch
Vintage Brooch
Vintage bug brooch
A Vintage Brooch with a difference – three ways to wear
Posted by: | CommentsA Vintage Brooch with a difference – three ways to wear
Vintage brooch - dress clip
Have you seen a dress clip? These are unusual pieces of Vintage Jewellery which originated in the 1920s art deco era and were worn up until about the 1950s. The nice thing about these is that there is three pieces of Jewellery in the one brooch. To look at this at first it seems like a nice but standard art deco diamante brooch. Turn it over and you can see the difference – the two halves unclip and are removed from a base plate.
dress clip from rear
The two clip halves of the vintage brooch are worn as a pair on a dress or cardigan – often at the neckline. If you place a clip on either side of a neckline it will make the shape more square than round. Naturally a square shape to necklines suited the art deco ear as anything angular was popular.
The example of a dress clip brooch shown in these pictures is costume jewellery set with marcasites. you can find examples set with diamante and some of the nicest ones are made of silver. Other Dress clip brooches are made so that the base plate is studded with stones and can be worn as a brooch at the same time as the clip. Look out for ones in the shapes of flowers and animals – quite good fun to wear and dating from circa 1950s
Three parts of dress clip
Many Dress clip brooches were made by Coro who used the term “Duette” for these . Strictly it is only a Duette if it was made by Coro but the term often gets applied to any Dress clip brooch. If the word Duette appears on the back of the brooch it will have been made by Coro as they patented the term.
I think that the dress clip brooch is over due a fashion revival – buy now whilst they are still relatively cheap. There is usually one or twop available in my shop and I will be looking out for more.
Two Clips
fasten-ating, how to date antique vintage brooch from its catch
Posted by: | CommentsHow to date an antique or vintage brooch from the fastening.
Part 2.2 of AntiquesAvenue’s Guide to identifying the age of a piece of jewellery. There are so many different types of catchs depending upon the piece of jewellery that this part of the guide will be in two sections. This is all about vintage and antique brooch catches.
Victorian C catch
Take a good look at the photo above, this is known as a C catch or a Simple C catch. It is about a 75% complete circle which is bent in slightly at the top. The point of the pin stem just loops under it with no securing method. This is typical of Georgian and Victorian Brooches and was just about the only type of catch used up until the 1890s. It has been used more recently but if you find a catch like this it is a very good indicator of an antique brooch.
During the 1890s they jewellers began to experiment with safer ways of fastening a brooch. The c catch was developed and you can find examples where the C becomes broader or is a double C with two loops over the pin. The safety pin fastening was adapted for use in Jewellery:
safety pin catch
As you can see it looks much like the safety pins in use today. This particular example dates from the 1920s. Also in the later 1800s they began to add a leaver fastening mechanism to the C catch giving the fore father of the roll over catches we see in use mainly during the second half of the 20th century up until today:
lever catch
closed trombone catch
- trombone catch
To bring the look at catches right up todate the roll over or safety catch as we know it today. This began to be introduced to vintage brooches circa 1920s but you still find plenty of earlier types right through until the end of the 1950s and the occasional example beyond then. Do not use catches alone to date your jewellery but certainly do take a look at them in conjunction with the other factors in this guide.
Part 2.2 will look at necklace catches and bracelet catches too.A vintage brooch for Mothers gift?
Posted by: | CommentsHow about a vintage brooch for Mum on Mothers day? I think one with a flower theme would be especially suitable and there is a huge choice available to suit every taste and pocket. Vintage Jewellery is high fashion this year so Mum will appreciate the thought that she’s staying upto date. Here are a few tip on what to look out for when buying a vintage brooch and a few suggestions you might like to look at:
vintage brooch
1. Maker
2. Size, colour and complexity of design
3. Material
4. Condition
1. Maker: as with all things in life a designer name adds to the value of an item. Unless Mum is a collector of vintage jewellery I suggest that you avoid designer names as that will put up the price without meaning anything significant to her.
2. Size, colour and complexity of design:The bigger, bolder and more colorful a vintage costume jewellery brooch is the more it is likely to cost. Consider what Mum would like to wear? Does she like big jewellery of would a smaller pretty piece suite her best. What colours does she like to wear?
3. Material: Gold is good but at the moment very very expensive, silver is a great alternative at the moment and you can get a really special vintage brooch made of silver for under £50. Costume jewellery is fun too but may not last as long as a silver or gold brooch.
4. Condition: Check the condition of any vintage brooch – you would only want to give a perfect one as a Mothers day present
A few suggestions:
I think that most Mothers would appreciate a vintage brooch with a floral theme. Here are a few that I have available at the moment:
flower broochvintage flower brooch
vintage flower brooch
Vintage Brooch for Free – November Giveaway
Posted by: | CommentsHere is Novembers Give Away from AntiquesAvenue. This vintage brooch is bright and colourful – I find it particularly interesting due to the wide range of materials used in in. The frame is metal – the diamante are glass, the flowers seem to be real dried miniatures set under plastic. With a mainly turquoise / Blue colourway I think this costume jewellery brooch dates from the 1960s
Vintage Brooch
