Bring Back the Brooch!

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#61
Cavalier Thank you very much! I'm excited to know that I am brooch-twin with such an elegant lady!

mistikat said:
If you can show a photo of the hallmarks of the peacock, I can have a look at it. But there was a New Zealand brand called Ataahua that worked with abalone and used a bee hallmark. If you Google Ataahua, peacock and abalone pieces that look like yours come up. Pretty sure this is what yours is too.

Love all these pins and especially the great stories behind them.
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Misti, you are amazing! That's definitely the bee maker!
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
 
#63
Cavalier Girl said:
Junkenpo, I love that! How long is it?
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It is about 3 inches... I will measure when I get home. :p

Vintage Leather said:
Can I play?

My collection is nothing like Mistikat's (give me a few decades, though!) partially because it is still very small, and partially because I tend to wear tiny brooches. 3" is my biggest, not smallest!


Bottom row is a nephrite and gold beetle; my grandfather brought it back from China when he was released from his WWII service. My paternal aunts didn't appreciate "that green stuff." When my grandmother was dividing her jewelry box, she decided that my mother and I were the only ones in the family who would appreciate it and so we inherited it. :
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You have a gorgeous collection! I love your beetle! How great that Mistikat was able to ID a maker for you... i love tPF. :D
 
#64
Love all the pearl pins. I will try to post more photos later - hope others do as well. The pin is so underrated and can really jazz up an outfit. Would love to see it make a comeback!
 
#65
I went looking for a pearl brooch and it took me several other brooches to find it ... finally did though! I got this at a pawn shop; they told me it was silver but fake pearls and cubic zirconia. Turned out to be cultured pearls and natural zircons, with a Scottish hallmark from the 1960s. It's next to a dime for scale (see, I have some small ones too!)
 

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#66
The American costume jeweller Marcel Boucher was a really early love; he used to work for Cartier so you can see the fine jewellery influence. In the 1940s, most metals were used for the war effort, so sterling silver was used in a lot of jewelry. I'm a big fan of the retro period - some seriously great designs influenced by fine jewellery.

The top left piece is probably 60s; not sterling. All the other ones are sterling with a gold wash.
 

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#67
I saw the Boucher ruby flower in a book on costume jewelry by Vivienne Becker and it became an ongoing quest to find it. I told my husband I would stop collecting when I got it. As it turned out, not so much. I have the earrings for all of these (and they are all slightly different!) This also came in an all pearl version and I think at least one more color.
 

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#70
mistikat said:
I went looking for a pearl brooch and it took me several other brooches to find it ... finally did though! I got this at a pawn shop; they told me it was silver but fake pearls and cubic zirconia. Turned out to be cultured pearls and natural zircons, with a Scottish hallmark from the 1960s. It's next to a dime for scale (see, I have some small ones too!)
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Wow incredible find
 
#72
Vintage Leather said:
Can I play?



My collection is nothing like Mistikat's (give me a few decades, though!) partially because it is still very small, and partially because I tend to wear tiny brooches. 3" is my biggest, not smallest!



I've attached a photo of my menagerie of pins - the top one is is a Max Mara crystal and gold-tone metal fly.

The peacock is a unknown maker (anyone know who was known for abalone and sterling brooches, usually hallmarked STER with a small bee? I've seen several but I can't find anything in my vintage jewelry books). It was a gift from my father for the first Mother's Day after we adopted the Knight.

The middle is an enamel and diamond frog; it was my grandmother's from the 70s.

The far right a vintage Dior sterling zebra, which I received for my 21st birthday.

Bottom row is a nephrite and gold beetle; my grandfather brought it back from China when he was released from his WWII service. My paternal aunts didn't appreciate "that green stuff." When my grandmother was dividing her jewelry box, she decided that my mother and I were the only ones in the family who would appreciate it and so we inherited it. :graucho:

My mother has the rest of the parue, but I adopted the buggy.

and then I've added a 2F coin for size.

The frog and the beetle especially are very small indeed, about the size of my thumbnail.



These are my daily-wear brooches - I wear dresses at least 4 out of 7 days a week, and I tend to wear a pin around the neckline. I've also been known to adjust the neckline of a cowl necked blouse; pleating it and then pinning it with a brooch.
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Ahh these are all so gorgeous
 
#73
LVoeletters said:
Wow incredible find
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I was pretty happy - paid about $80 for it and my jeweller told me it was worth about $600. I love digging through pawn shops and antique furniture stores with a little counter of jewelry at the back. Often the jewelry comes with an estate and the vendors don't always know what they have. It's harder to find real deals with the ease of Internet research but it can be done!
 
#75
Junkenpo said:
I would love to see what EB has for brooches!


Here's my one jade brooch. It's also vintage, so I'm not sure who the maker is or what kind of stone the flowers are.. I'm fairly sure the leaves are nephrite... maybe the flowers are too?

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This is really lovely - so delicate and pretty. Does it have any marks on the back?
 
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