Mouse in a Tea Pot

Mouse in a Tea Pot

This is a small mechanical brooch.  The mouse goes up and down – so you can just have a straight tea pot or the mouse poking out.  Mechanical jewellery is not uncommon and has been around for decades.  It is closely associated with novelty brooches.  You will find  turning windmill sails, clowns with strings that…

Oh Christmas Tree

Oh Christmas Tree

Monet started life as Monocraft in 1927 or 1929 (depending on which reference book you read) founded by Jay & Michael Chernow in Rhode Island, the costume jewellery business took off in 1937. During the 1980s Monet produced jewellery for Yves Saint Laurent. The giant tree in Trafalgar Square London is a present from the…

Love Birds

Love Birds

These two little birds are a classic example of not being what they seem.  I bought them at a local antiques fair from a dealer who I have known for some time.  The conversations went something like this. “That’s rather nice, who’s the designer?” Me “Atwood & Sawyer, I think, but I can’t see a…

Lipstick

Lipstick

This Trifari lipstick is from the 1980s. Lipstick is a fairly common motif for a brooch but the quality of this one shines out. The enamelling of the red lipstick element has a shimmer just like the real thing giving it a resonance and depth of colour that more modern examples don’t have. It is…

Diver

Diver

I couldn’t let August go by without some reference to London 2012 and what better image than a graceful diver. This brooch is by the American Jewellery Chain (AJC). I have been unable to find much about AJC, other than they were in production from 1927 to at least 1997. There is a good deal…