Brooches

  • Coach & Horses

    This small Sterling Silver brooch was made in Germany in the 1930s or maybe even earlier.  The reason I like it so much is the delicate detail of the enamelling and the added marcasites which give this brooch its charm.  The coach part of the brooch is just 2.5 cm long and within this tiny…

  • Geisha Girl & Domino

    The Geisha Girl is by the Spanish design company Ceraselle, based in Seville.  She is made out of ceramic.  My husband bought her for me as a Christmas present from the Victoria and Albert museum in London.  It was one of the pieces inspired by the museum’s refurbished Toshiba Gallery of Japanese Art, which reopened…

  • Map of London

    This brooch is made of powder coated steel and the little red dot is in fact a magnet which you can move around to show where you are at any given point in time.  The brooch is designed by Garudio Studiage in Peckham, London, a creative collective set up by Chris Ratcliffe, Laura Cave, Anna…

  • Christmas Stocking

    This Christmas Stocking is by Weiss one of the most popular costume jewellery firms in America.  They were based in New York but they did not manufacture their own jewellery, there is in fact some dispute as to whether they even designed their own jewellery. In essence Albert Weiss was the supreme costume jewellery marketer,…

  • Citrine and Pearls

    This brooch is dainty, measuring less than an inch (2 cm) and the central stone is a delicate colour. The name Citrine comes from its yellow colour, and the first recorded use of citrine as a colour in English was in 1386. Its Latin origin is ‘citrino’ meaning lemon.  Citrines can range in colour from pale yellow…

  • Trio of Owls

    Each of these three owls is carved from a single tagua nut, a seed from a palm that grows in South American rainforests.  The tagua nut is known as vegetable ivory and is seen as an environmentally sound alternative to animal ivory.  Once the seed has been dried it can be dyed or left in…

  • Elephant in a Hat

    This brooch is cast in metal which has been mixed with copper to give a rich reddy brown hue.  For a small piece (the elephant is only 2” long (5cm) maximum) of unnamed costume jewellery there is a good deal of detail in the casting. You can see the folds of skin, tassels on the…

  • Glitz and Glamour

    This magnificent large brooch is by Staret and is over three inches wide (7.5 cm). There is little known about the Staret Jewellery Co. Inc. who were based in Chicago Illinois.  This particular name was registered between 1941 and 1947 but previously the company was known as the Star Novelty Jewelry Company, Inc. which began…

  • Boater

    This boater brooch is from the 1980s; though it’s not marked so I cannot attribute it to a known maker it is a well-made and weighty piece, which is often a good sign quality.  The main part of the brooch has been detailed giving the effect of the straw of the boater and the ribbon…

  • Masks

    There is little known about the Reinad Company but it is believed to have started in New York in the 1920s and have been in operation until the 1950s.  These two brooches date from the 1940s and I love the small bit of red enamelling detail that has been given to the lips of the…