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  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • Bow

    To celebrate Burns Night (25th January) this month’s brooch is made of Scottish hard stones and gold.  Scottish hardstone jewellery, also known as pebble jewellery, is extremely distinctive, the earthy coloured agates, granite and quartz are instantly recognisable.  The heyday for this type of jewellery was from the early 1800s to the First World War,…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • Christmas Tree

    This brooch is from Estonia made during the Communist era.  It was at a time when materials were scarce.  So, this brooch and the others I bought are made of what would be described in an auction catalogue as ‘white metal’ a low grade of silver, not the 925 standard we have in the UK…