Annies Antiques Blog

Here is a subject I find a little difficult - brooches made from butterfly wings. These were very popular in the art deco era, the wonderful shine on the bright blue looked beautiful set into silver. Above are a couple of examples of genuine vintage brooches set with butterfly wings. But what about the poor butterflies ? These insects must have been wonderful to see in the wild - I am sure they are not like any I have ever seen in the UK. Where do they come from and did they suffer for our jewellery. Hopefully these are not still being made today. What should we do with the brooches from the past set with butterfly wings? Does collecting them encourage them to be produced today? Personally I would never collect or wear them. I only buy and sell them when they come in with a lot of other jewellery . If I were to stop selling them what would I do with the ones that I do get? Like I said at the beginning of the post - its difficult. Any suggestions?

I am starting my exploration of the materials that brooches are made from with Silver. Why? Well I seem to have more vintage silver brooches than those made from every other material put together. Perhaps that is because I like silver or just perhaps because more brooches were made from silver than from any other material? Certainly it has been popular in both antique and vintage brooches and remains so up to date. Silver is a grey / white material which is a popular metal for use in jewellery as it is easy to work and durable when worn. It is also cheaper and lighter weight than platinum which is the other whiteish precious metal. One of the popular things about silver is that it is often stamped with hallmarks, markers marks, metal purity grades and more which make it easier to identify the origins and history of your antiques. This article does not cover hallmarking - more on that later. There are several grades of silver which you can find your brooches made from : - 800 This was o

I am going to spend the next few posts examining the different materials vintage brooches were made from . Hopefully this will help you to identify the ones you have - please do mail me if there is anything interesting you would like covered or you think I am going to miss ( Always quite possible) Here is a quick list but I am sure to think of a few more as I go along Precious metals ( Gold, silver, platinum) None precious metals ( copper, brass, silver plate, mixed metals, pewter, Iron, Steel and stainless steel, pot metal, pinchbeck) Gemstones ( precious, semi-precious, hardstones and imitation) Wood, Jet, Plastics of all types, glass, Bone & Ivory, Hair, Pottery and porcelain, Rubber, Gutta Percha, Horn enamel, butterfly wings, shell, paper ( including paintings), leather, insects ( scarabs) Coral, pearls and anything else I can find an example of .................

Have you ever seen genuine Georgian Jewellery? This is the earliest Jewellery which can be readily be bought today which is still in wearable condition. The Georgians (1714 - 1837) loved their finery including all their Jewellery. Much of it is very very expensive today however original Georgian locket pin brooches remain quite affordable as they are quite small and often plain and made in relatively large numbers. These small brooches are have a central glass covered compartment on the front which was normally used to keep a memento in - this was often a lock of a loved ones hair. Some were memorials to a departed relative and often have the name and dates of the remembered on the reverse. Others uses these brooches to keep a snippet of a sweethearts or beloved pets hair in. AntiquesAvenue offers a selection of antique brooches including Georgian locket pins.

So how do we spell the pretty clips we attach to our clothes. Is it Brooch or Broach? Why are their two different spellings? As I see both variations used I decided to do a little research. Goggle offers us far more choice of sites and searches using the term "Brooch". Wiki gives Brooch its own entry but not so for Broach which simply seems to be an alternate spelling. So my choice is made - for this Blog they will be Brooches ( or pins, or clips) The pretty at the top of this post is a hand painted V ictorian brooch made of porcelain and decorated with flowers.