Brooches

  • Perfect Pink

    This brooch is by Trifari and from the 1960s. Two things drew me to this brooch. The sheer brightness of the pink. It’s not pale and wishy washy, like a baby pink. This pink has panache and surprisingly goes well with loads in my wardrobe. The second unusual thing about it is the shape and…

  • Straw Hat

    This brooch is small and made of gold. The flowers and ribbon decoration are enamel. I don’t know where the brooch was made but I think it’s almost certainly continental. I have seen a similar type of work where gold is twisted to give the impression of basket work in Italy. That was a gondolier’s…

  • Garnet Star

    This brooch belonged to my mother who would have been 91 this month. I remember her wearing it on numerous occasions; it was one of her favourites especially for an evening out. It is made of Pyrope Garnet a blood red garnet and almost certainly from Czechoslovakia and late 19th century. Pyrope garnets were used…

  • Giant Rose

    This oversized rose measures 6 ¾ inches (and for those of you who can cope with the metric that’s a whopping 17 cm). It’s by Dutch designer Michiel Alexander Ansingh who has amassed vast quantities of vintage stones, some dating back to the 1920s. Many are from the heyday of the American costume jewellery industry…

  • Oh Christmas Tree

    Monet started life as Monocraft in 1927 or 1929 (depending on which reference book you read) founded by Jay & Michael Chernow in Rhode Island, the costume jewellery business took off in 1937. During the 1980s Monet produced jewellery for Yves Saint Laurent. The giant tree in Trafalgar Square London is a present from the…

  • Glitz & Sparkle

    It is November, so I looked through my collection for a brooch to celebrate ‘Guy Fawkes’.  Something depicting a firework or a rocket perhaps.  I ran my finger up and down my list, I searched my jewellery drawers and boxes.  Horror – it began to dawn on me, I have a gap in my collection. …

  • Love Birds

    These two little birds are a classic example of not being what they seem.  I bought them at a local antiques fair from a dealer who I have known for some time.  The conversations went something like this. “That’s rather nice, who’s the designer?” Me “Atwood & Sawyer, I think, but I can’t see a…

  • Lipstick

    This Trifari lipstick is from the 1980s. Lipstick is a fairly common motif for a brooch but the quality of this one shines out. The enamelling of the red lipstick element has a shimmer just like the real thing giving it a resonance and depth of colour that more modern examples don’t have. It is…

  • Diver

    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…

  • Enamel Fish

    With all the rain we are having, I decided a fish would be an appropriate brooch for wet July. This enamel brooch was manufactured by A H Darby & Son, who were based in Birmingham. It is hallmarked for 1946. After WWII materials for luxury items were in scarce supply in the UK. It is…