Brooches

  • Circle of Pearls

    This brooch is by the UK designer Jed Green.  Jed’s jewellery is highly individual and distinctive.  Jed uses as her main material inexpensive Borosilicate clear glass tubes, which are widely used in laboratory and medical environments.  Borosilicate glass was first developed in the late 19th century by the German glassmaker Otto Schott, its principal ingredients are…

  • Star

    This brooch is made of cut steel and is seen as a precursor to marcasite.  Cut steel jewellery was popular during the 18th and 19th centuries and originated in Woodstock in Oxfordshire in the early 1700s where they specialised in making chatelaines.  A chatelaine is hung from the waist, made up of a series of…

  • Cupid

    This little brooch is from the 1930s.  It is not a valuable brooch, it is made of ‘white metal’, the term given to items not made of silver and decorated with enamel and marcasites.  The enamel is not of particular quality.  I think it is probably British, but it has no markings so I can’t…

  • Abstract Spray

    I was attracted to this brooch because of the coral-coloured design, it is by Oscar de la Renta and from the 1990s.  At the start of the 1990s ‘grunge’ was the prominent fashion trend, but by mid-decade ‘glamour’ had returned, thank heavens.  I have never been a fan of ‘grunge’.   This brooch measures at it’s…

  • Snowman

    This snowman brooch is probably American, there are no marks so I cannot be totally sure.  It is a fairly large brooch measuring 9cm (4”) high.  I like the small details in this brooch, the icicles dangling down from his arms and the red ribbon picked out on his hat. As a child I remember…

  • Three Ovals

    This brooch is from the famous French fashion label Yves Saint Laurent.  In the 1980s there was a revival of costume jewellery, inspired by the accessories in the glamorous USA soap operas of the time – Dallas and Dynasty.  Who can forget Sue Ellen Ewing and her outrageous clip earrings, which she removed every time…

  • Flower

    The main body of this brooch is made from opaque glass. In its centre is a small cluster of seven garnets forming the stamens of the flower.  The glass has been carved to give texture to the petals.  I bought this brooch from Hanson’s auction.  Hanson’s is run by the charismatic auctioneer Charles Hanson, whose…

  • Magnificent Oval

    The first thing to say about this brooch is that it is rather large, measuring 11 x 9 cm.  The second thing is that it really isn’t a brooch at all.  I found it tucked at the back of a dusty display cabinet in an antiques shop in Lewes.  Lewes is a small town in…

  • Orchid

    This magnificent brooch depicting an orchid is by Stanley Hagler.  Stanley was born in Denver, Colorado in 1923, he graduated with a degree in law from Colorado university in 1949 after his war service.  He initially worked for Miriam Haskell as a business advisor.  In the early 1950s he was challenged to create a piece…