Annies Antiques Blog

The Victorians loved their sentimental jewellery of all types, sweetheart jewellery and mourning jewellery were widely worn. During the Victorian era the development of mass producton of silver jewellery and especially silver brooches made it possible for people from all walks of life to own a sentimental brooch . These sentimental silver brooches were made in thousands and thousands of different designs and many of these have survived for todays collector and researcher of vintage jewellery  and antique brooches. Here are a few victorian sentimental silver brooches : Name Brooches: Just as necklaces with names on were popular in the 1980s , the later 1800s and early 1900s saw a fashion for silver name brooches. Here is a very Victorian name brooch made for a lady called Fanny: This antique brooch dates from the Victorian era when name brooches like this were popular. Made of silver "Fanny" is entwined with leaves.This is an unusually large antique name brooch being 6.4 cms l

Here's just a few of my favourite Cameo brooches. Some have long gone to their new homes but their pictures remain............. Victorian Lava Cameo Aurora Goddess of the dawn: I believe this chap is Asclepius who was the son of Apollo and the God of Medicine: Hebe In Greek mythology Hebe is the Goddess of youth & Eternal beauty. In this cameo she is giving the nectar of life to Zeus ( her father) who has taken the form of an Eagle: And I think this lovely lady is Flora: More Cameo Jewellery  on my website http://www.antiquesavenue.co.uk/

I wantd to show you this special brooch - It is available from my website shop at http://www.antiquesavenue.co.uk/ where a kind shopper noticed it and let me know that it was designed and made by a lady called Ola Gorie in the Orkney Islands , Scotland. The brooch has the initials OMG which are her trademark and it also has full silver hallmarks. I've visited Ola Gories website hoping to find out a bit more about the design which I suspect is taken from a similar Scandinavian design I have seen. It appears that she is not currently selling a piece of jewellery in this design.  This brooch appears to have two birds ( Doves or Love Birds?) sitting in a tree eating small fruit such as cherries.  Do you know the tradidiotnal design this is based on? Please do get in touch I would love to know.

Yesterdays blog post on leaf brooches inspried me to take a look at some very special vintage brooches in the antiquesavenue colleciton - Scandinavian silver leaf brooches. As many of you know Scandinavian jewellery is highly regarded and some of the Scandinavian silver craftsmen and designers are amongst the best in the world. Many Scandinavian pieces of jewellery take their inspiration from nature, leaves and flowers included. Aksel Holmsen Sterling Pin Brooch Norway In the form of three twining leaves: this Sterling silver brooch was made by Aksel Holmsen in Norway and has the manufacturers back stamp . A complex triple fern leaf design. This fastens with a simple C catch Approx Size: 2 inches long Approx Weight: 12.2 grams Country of origin Norway Condition: Excellent vintage condition Flora Danica Eggert Silver leaf Brooch This Leaf brooch was made by Eggert in Denmark as part of its Flora Danica range. It is made of Sterling silver with a gold plating. The brooch measures just ov

The Autumn leaves are falling outside my window . It occurs to me how many vintage brooches and antique brooches have been inspired by leaves of all shapes and sizes. In the AntiquesAvenue collection I have leaf brooches from the Victorian era right the way through to the 1970s. These leaf brooches are made of gold, silver and of costume jewellery. They can be set with precious and semi precious stones and enameled in naturalistic leaf colours. Some leaf brooches are by designers, others are just very attractive but unnamed pieces of jewellery. Lets take a look at a few: Victorian Name brooch with leaves This antique brooch dates from the Victorian era when name brooches like this were popular. Made of silver "Fanny" is entwined with leaves/ This is an unusually large antique name brooch being 6.4 cms long. As with most brooches of the victorian era, this fastens with a simple C catch Victorian pebble brooch This must be one of the best Victorian Scottish hardstone brooches I

I believe that there is a Vintage brooch for every occasion , with Bonfire night just a few weeks away I was wondering which brooches would be most suitable to go allongside fireworks. Our November the 5th commemoration of Guy Fawkes bungled attempt to blow up the houses of parliament in 1605 is all about colour, show and flash. We dress up warmly and so any vinage brooch needs to be large enough to pin to a jumper or coat or perhaps to keep a scarf in place. How about these suggestions? Danish Silver brooch Anton Michelsen star burst A wonderful star burst silver brooch made by Anton Michelsen of Denmark. I presume that this vintage brooch was made during the 1960s / 1970s when start busts was high fashion ( just think of the star burst clocks which were made about that time. The start and central area have a light gold tint. This one even looks like a firework. This vintage silver brooch measures up to 7 cms long Vintage brooch enamel blue flower Vintage brooches with enamel are alwa

Victorian mourning brooches are very collectable but they do always have a somber mood to them. But , just think how wonderfully suitable they would be to wear to a Halloween party this year. Not only are these original antiques black in colour they have the connection with the dead which is celebrated each October 31st. The materials most often used in Victorian black jewellery are Jet, French Jet ( polished black glass), Bog Oak and enamels however early forms of resin and plastics were also found. Here are a few nice Victorian mourning brooches available from antiquesavenue: Victorian Jet Brooch A superb Victorian Whitby Jet mourning brooch which has been carved in 3d with a lily of the valley flower. The lily of the valley was a sentimental flower to the Victorians: – sweetness, return to happiness; humility, purity, you've made my life complete, birthday flower for May, Legend says that Mary’s tears turned into Lily of the valley at the foot of the cross This Whitby jet brooch

Do you have a favourite vintage brooch? Many of us do have that one special signature brooch which is worn with several items of clothing. Other are lucky enough to have a brooch which has been handed down by grandma or even great grandma. I was thinking what a wonderful idea it would be to create a gallery of all our favourite vintage brooches and we could list them here on the vintage brooches blog. If you are interested please do get in touch through my vintage jewellery shop or leave a comment here. In the meantime here is one of my favourite brooches: This Vintage brooch is really wonderful. The leaves, stem and buds are made of silver enameled and with inset marcasites . The rose flower is actually made of a hand carved early plastic. The silver is fully hallmarked and can be dated to 1963. There are a few minor signs of age to this brooch but still a very attractive piece of vintage jewellery. This lovely piece of vintage jewellery measures about 8 cms long. Anne