Although I seem to  have been blogging about vintage brooches quite a lot recently I think there is one specialist collecting area I have competely forgotten to mention so far – Mourning Jewellery or more specifically mourning brooches. These antique and vintage brooches are made in rememberance of a departed loved one.

In the Georgian and Victorian eras death at a relatively young age was much more common than it is nowadays and it was the fashion to remember departed loved ones by holding a lock of their hair in either a locket worn arround the neck or pinned to clothing as a brooch. These lockets were usually made of heavy gold filled construction. When they were worn as a brooch the loved ones hair was held in a central compartement which could be decorated around the edge with seed pearls, black enamel or the name of the person and something sentimental written.

Particulary sought after are mourining brooches which have information about the name and date of death of the loved ones.  nowadays I regularly get asked for these lockets as the potential new owners want to replace the original hair with that of a beloved pet.

Here are a few genuine antique mourning brooches for you to see: