Fashion & Beauty, Vintage

Vintage Brooches – The Bling

Today I thought I’d share another selection of my vintage brooches.

After all, I’ve only been threatening it since I shared my animal brooches back in April. I am saving “the weird ones” for last as I want to make sure I’ve photographed them all as a few were missing, so today you can see my bling. These are my fancy glitter that I mostly save for special occasions, though I am terribly prone to deciding that today is a special occasion, because, for instance, it’s the cats birthday (and I don’t even have a cat).

If anyone is any good at dating jewellery and knows any more about the age of these I’d love to know!

vintage diamante brooch

My diamante bling is quite a special collection. It’s not big, as I’m not particularly a blingy person. The two on the left, the 60s Floral Wreath with aurora borealis crystals and the orange diamante belonged to my Nana and are very special to me. the catch on the wreath isn’t great, so it actually has a piece of blue tac to hold it closed when I wear it, I remember it from playing with my Nanas jewellery box when I was little. I’m unsure of how old the orange one is, but it is satisfyingly sparkly.

The blue floral diamante brooch on the top right  was given to me by Mr Chicks Mum, again, I am terrible at dating jewellery, but it certainly has some age to it.

The green snowflake is the only one here I actually bought. I originally had one in orange, but it mysteriously disappeared while I was in London a few years ago. I wrote about it and someone pointed out there was a green one for sale on eBay, so I replaced it. Since then I have lost a diamante, as you can see. HOWEVER, a couple of weeks ago I was at a Boot Fair and saw another, identical, green snowflake brooch with all its diamantes intact, so I bought it and now own 2 of these! The fact that I’ve found 3 of these makes me suspect it’s not that old, but I like it none the less.

Onto the pearl bling! I like pearls, there’s something deeply glamorous about them to me. Even fake ones, which I’m sure these all are! I haven’t rubbed them against my teeth or anything (and if you don’t know why I should, then just trust me, it’s how you tell real pearls, apparently).

scarf clip

This one is actually a scarf clip, not a brooch, it belonged to Mr Chicks Grandmother, but how old it is I don’t know. I would hazard a guess at 50s? The box feels like it should be original and seems quite old, so it could be even older? It has little teeth on the clasp to hold a slippy scarf in place.

This last one I bought on eBay, it has Ges Gesch engraved on the back which means it is German and some part of it is patented, but I can’t find much more on dating it. It was apparently used from 1948-1991, but that’s quite a broad date range!

pearl drop brooch

pearl back

So that’s my bling! I’m always after more! I love browsing for more sparkles, for instance, I’d love an art deco brooch by Kalmar Antiques, I think I need richer friends and family!

Can you help me date any of my brooches?  Which is your favourite or do you hate them all? Tell me below!

22 replies on “Vintage Brooches – The Bling”
  1. says: Mim McDonald (@crinolinerobot)

    I LOVE a bit of bling. The blue floral one looks like it could be 40s onwards – the wire and the way the stones are set reminds me a lot of stuff I’ve seen from the early to mid 40s, although I have seen similar wirework on brooches going into the 1950s. The colour and type of stone makes me favour the earlier date.

    Damn, I need more brooches…

  2. says: Mim McDonald (@crinolinerobot)

    Hmm, earlier comment got eaten. From the colour, setting method and style, I’d put the blue flower down as 1940s or early 50s – I’ve seen similar ‘wiry’ bases in 1950s and 1960s people, but something about the whole thing reminds me very strongly of known early 1940s pieces I’ve seen.

    1. says: Gemma

      The one that belonged to my Nana? I think that’s my favourite too. Especially as I remember it from when I was little

  6. says: Louise

    I love brooches, blingy or otherwise. I have quite a collection too, but I must say, I’m REALLY looking forward to seeing “the weird ones” xx

  8. says: Helga

    Ooo, you have some lovey specimens!
    The dingle-dongley one and the scarf clip ( I have a small collection of them) especially wet my whisltle!
    Thank you for your recent comments;sweet of you to drop by! X

  9. says: Danielle Bentley

    They are all so beautiful 🙂 I volunteer at a charity shop and we get loads of broaches donated to us, they’re perfect when you want to add a bit of bling to an outfit! x

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