I couldn’t let August go by without some reference to London 2012 and what better image than a graceful diver. This brooch is by the American Jewellery Chain (AJC). I have been unable to find much about AJC, other than they were in production from 1927 to at least 1997.

There is a good deal more on the history of diving in the Olympics. It was first introduced in the 1904 games at St. Louis USA. There were only two events – ‘platform’ George Sheldon won the gold and ‘plunge for distance’ William Dickey won the gold, both were from America. Women’s diving was introduced in 1912 at the Stockholm games. There was only one woman’s event the 10m platform, the gold was won by Greta Johansson from Sweden.