Circle

Circle

This large and impressive Givenchy brooch is from the 1970s.  The brooch is made of metal and glass and is all about texture.  The metal rim has what appears to be a series of embossed links and then there is an inner ring of violet glass and in the centre smoky grey faceted glass.  The…

Partridge in a Pear Tree

Partridge in a Pear Tree

It was during the 1950s that the craze for and mass production of Christmas jewellery first began in earnest in America.  During WWII wives and sweethearts wore festive ribbons and corsages made of dried foliage, but many of these have not survived.  By the Korean War at the beginning of the 1950s jewellery designers had…

Humpty Dumpty

Humpty Dumpty

This brooch is by the late great Kenneth Jay Lane.  Kenneth Lane was one of the doyens of the costume jewellery industry.  An only child born in Detroit in 1930 and by all accounts a precious and rather spoilt child.  At 15 he and his mother visited New York, in an interview many years later…

Leopard

Leopard

This solid 9ct gold leopard brooch was made in Birmingham in the 1970s.  The tree branch the leopard sits on has been delicately cast and if you look closely you can see the detail of the bark and even a knot.  The leopard himself has ruby eyes and his spots are minuscule dots of black…

Triangle

Triangle

Lea Stein brooches are bright and colourful. They are made by layering laminated cellulose acetate sheets and it is this which makes them distinctive and recognisable. It has allowed Lea Stein to use clashing colours and incorporate other elements like lace and gold glitter. Lea Stein started in the 1960s but the majority of the…