Brooches

  • Mackintosh Square

    This is, for me a small brooch.  I usually go for more statement impactful designs.  But this little brooch has a pleasing design, and it came with matching earrings.  I do like a matching set.  I know these days it is seen as not on trend, but who wants to be a slave to the…

  • Stylized Canon

    Those of you who have been following my ‘Brooch of the Month’ posts will know I have a giant spreadsheet of all the brooches in my collection where I log various details about every brooch I own.  I spent some time working out how best to describe the shape of this brooch by Jakob Bengel…

  • Circus Horse

    Dan Kasoff began making jewellery in New York just after WWII ended.  In the beginning Dan Kasoff Inc manufactured pieces which were supplied to the wholesale trade.  It was not until 1950 that the company began marking its pieces with the name Florenza and marketing in their own right.  The name Florenza does not come…

  • Paisley Stylized Leaf

    This brooch is by the designer and maker Jane Adam. I first came across Jane’s work back in 2009 at the Dazzle Exhibition, where I bought a rectangular brooch made of aluminium.  Jane is a renowned exponent of aluminium jewellery, and her work has been exhibited across the world including Japan, USA, Spain as well…

  • Plate

    This is an unusual brooch as it is in fact a miniature painted plate by the ceramics manufacturer Coalport.  It was made in the 1950s.  More commonly ceramic jewellery was in the form of flowers, I spot this type of brooch regularly in charity and vintage shops.  They can be just one flower of a…

  • Dream

    This brooch is made of silver and has a faceted piece of quartz as an accent.  It is by the Finnish jewellery design company Kalevala, established by the Finnish writer Elsa Heporauta in 1935. Elsa was born in 1883 in Puumala where her father ran the local sawmill. In 1907 Elsa married Frans Akseli Heporauta who…

  • Circle with Holes

    This brooch is made of 14ct gold by the Finnish designer Liisa Vitali. Liisa Vitali was born on 9th November 1918 in Helsinki.  The family moved to a farm in the small village of Viluksela in southern Finland when Liisa was two. Following the death of their parents Liisa and her brother Väinö continued to…

  • Beetle

    This unusual beetle brooch is by one of the doyens of costume jewellery design – Hattie Carnegie.  I have a number of Hattie Carnegie brooches in my collection, their quirkiness and originality appeal to me.  This beetle is from the 1940s and I bought it from my friend Jacqueline Rehmann author of ‘Classic American Costume…

  • Medieval Heart

    Now before we go any further, this month’s brooch is not Medieval.  However fabulous it would be to have a genuine 15th century piece of jewellery in my collection I’m afraid my budget does not stretch that far.  My brooch is a copy of a brooch from the Fishpool Hoard and was given to me…

  • Zulu Shield

    This brooch is made of gold and oxidised silver and in the form of a Zulu shield.  The design was registered by M J Goldsmid of Birmingham on 4th September 1883.  The British Museum has a Zulu shield brooch in its collection by the London jeweller John Brogden c1880.   In ‘Jewellery in the Age of…