Brooches

  • Chinese Fingernail Guard

    This brooch is in the form of a Chinese Fingernail Guard. It is made of silver git and is encrusted in precious and semi-precious cabochon stones of ruby, emerald, amethyst, jade with a blister pearl and highlights of enamelling. It is from the 1920s. I bought it at auction and it came in its very…

  • Lion’s Head

    This brooch is by Vendome.  Vendome was a subsidiary of Coro (Fuji Man & Mr & Mrs Squirrel) set up in 1944, taking over from Corocraft.  Both Corocraft and Vendome were the high-end divisions of Coro.  Vendome was popular during the 1960s when Helen Marion became their principle designer. Following the Second World War, Vendome…

  • Recycle Upcycle

    What is special about this pair of brooches?  On the face of it, nothing.  So why have I chosen these two brooches to feature as a Brooch of the month?  Well, let me tell you their story.  They started life as a pair of dress clips, made in the 1930s from plastic and decorated with…

  • Chrysanthemum Flower

    This brooch is large and amazingly three dimensional. It is made by the Japanese design company Monocircus. The company was founded by Kazunori Takeishi and Lim Shing Ee in 2011. Kazunori was born in Fukui, Japan and originally graduated as an architect, while Lim comes from Singapore and studied Art. Their philosophy is to make ‘wearable’…

  • George and the Dragon

    This brooch is made of silver gilt with amethyst, peridot and garnet.  It depicts George and the Dragon. The original Saint George was a Greek soldier who fought for the Roman emperor Diocletian as a member of the Praetorian Guard.  He died in 303 having been sentenced to death for refusing to recant his Christian…

  • Braille

    This set of brooches is by the Norwegian designer Rasmussen (sometimes you will see it written as Knut A Rasmussen or Knut Andreas Rasmussen).  The KA Rasmussen company was started in 1872 as a goldsmith’s workshop.  I cannot find out much about Rasmussen jewellery but the company is still going today and are the largest…

  • Dangle

    This wonderful brooch was made by the Miriam Haskell company, and designed by Frank Hess in the early 1940’s.  Although unsigned, it has many distinctive characteristics which identify it as Haskell.  Besides the striking, gold plated cascade of leaves and spheres, which makes a delightful sound when worn, one can look at the back of…

  • Ten Boats’ Keels

    This brooch is surprisingly large, at 8cm across and made of silver.  The simplicity and sharpness of the design immediately attracted me, usually when I am considering purchasing a brooch I ponder for a while.  I might place it on a ‘wish list’ or continue to wander around a fair before making a final decision. …

  • Valentines Heart

    Joan Rivers was born Alexandra Molinsky on 8th June 1933 in Brooklyn New York and died on 4th September 2014 in New York.  She had a long and varied career as a comedian, writer, actress, TV show host and producer.  In 1990 she began her jewellery collection working with the designer David Dangle.  The Joan Rivers…

  • Florida

    This month’s brooch is by the Florida artist Olive Commons.  Olive was already an established artist when she moved to Florida with her husband Arthur in the early 1930s.  The story goes that Olive’s new house had windows on all sides looking out over the iconic Florida landscape.  As a present for a friend Olive…