Antique & Collectible Jewelry

AntiquesAvenue featured item of the week 11 AugustLast weeks featured item was this Butterfly lady shell cameo gold brooch Edwardian .This beautiful lady has a butterfly in her hair and another on her shoulder. This cameo has been hand carved from shell and mounted in a 9 carat gold brooch
There are more wonderful vintage cameos here on AntiquesAvenue

What are the different types of Jewelery available? Here's a start to be added to later.

Worn round the neck:
Necklace, Pendant, Lavalier, Chain, Locket, Torque


Worn round the wrist:
Bracelet, Bangle, Chain


Worn on the finger:
Ring


Worn in Ears:
Earrings


Worn on clothing:
Brooch, pin, tie pin, Albert / Albertina, cufflinks, Fob, Medal

Worn in Hair
Comb,

Worn round ankle
Chain

Each month I shall examine a piece of Jewelry in more detail. This month I am looking at:

A really lovely Baccanalia who has been hand carved from Queen Conch shell goving a lovely delicate pink / white colour. She is wearing a necklace. The frame is made of gold which tests around 9 carat . This Victorian brooch fastens with a simple C catch and has an extended pin stem. Baccanalia were the followers of the God Baccus.

Age: Circa 1870s

Approx Size:1½ inch long

Approx Weight: 12.8 grams

Condition:
Excellent antique condition.

Our Price: £120.00

Jewelery like all other fashion items changes throughout history to match the tastes of the day. Here is AntiquesAvenue's overview of style in Jewelery.

Victorian 1830s - 1900: characterised by over ornamentation, heavy decoration borrowed from a previous era. An eclectic style where historical styles were intermingled together

Victorian Gothic circa 1860s:Think of the Houses of Parliament and Victorian church architecture
Victorian Aesthetic 1870 - 1890: Has a very oriental influence

Arts & Crafts circa 1870s - 1930s: Hand crafted, medieval influences, natural materials

Art Nouveau 1890s - 1910: naturalistic and asymetrical, whiplashes, insects and ladies with long flowing hair

Art Deco 1920 - 1940:Sharp and cubic, bright primary colours.

Post War Modernist circa: 1945 - 1970s bold organic with space age influences

The picture shows a Bakelite pendant with strong art deco styling

European Hallmarking Laws are complex and individual countries ( including the UK) have different systems which have all changed many times over the last 200 years. Where the hallmarks on a piece of Jewellery were legal at the time it was made it is still considered to be legally hallmarked today. All my silver & gold jewellery conforms to the hallmark standards applicable at its time & in its country of origin (This includes a particular piece not requiring hallmarks). This is your Guarantee of Authenticity.

AntiquesAvenue's guide to British Hallmarking - Part 1

Hallmarking in the UK has changed frequently since they were first introduced in the middle ages. The first part of AntiquesAvenue's hallmarking guide refers to the current law as I understand it. Prior to the 1973 hallmarking act which came into force on January 1st 1975 there were many different laws governing hallmarks.

The 1973 Hallmarking act:

The 1973 act simplified these laws and brought all the different hallmarking law into one act and for the first time Platinum was required to be hallmarked and its purity standard was set at .950.

All items over a minimum set weight must be hallmarked if they are to be described as that metal: Platinum 0.5 gram, Gold, 1 gram and silver 7.8 gram.

The act sets out that there are 2 parts to a hallmark plus the manufacturers sponsor mark. These are:

The Standard mark which indicates which metal the item is made out of. A Lion for sterling silver, Britannia for 958.4 silver, an Orb with a cross on top for Platinum and a crown for gold.

There are 4 assay offices: London, Birmingham, Sheffield and Edinburgh. Under the act they all use common marks for the different metal standards with the exception of Edinburgh using a Lion Rampant for Sterling silver where as the others use a Lion Passant.

The Purities of the metals were not changed by the 1973 act however this was now expressed as the number of parts per thousand rather than as carats. For example prior to the act an item could have been marked as 9 carat would now be marked as .375

The act also set out the actual form for the assay office mark to take: London took the Leopards head, Edinburgh the Castle; Sheffield took the Rose and Birmingham the Anchor although the silver and gold marks differ in their background .

The date letter became common to all the assay offices and it changes on January 1st every year.

The 1999 amendments to the 1973 act:

This helped to bring the UK into line with the European Union.

Additional metal standards were set out:

Gold before 1999: .375, .585, .750, .916

Gold from 1999: .375, .585, .750, .916, 990, .999

Platinum before 1999: .950

Platinum from 1999: .850, .900, .950, .999

Silver before 1999: .925, .958.4

Silver from 1999: .800, .925 .958 .999

Hallmarks were set out as having two marks plus the Sponsors mark. These marks are;

i) The standard mark expressed as parts per thousand (see list above); the shape this number is impressed in indicated which metal it is eg oval for silver.

ii) The Assay office mark.

The pictorial mark for the metal (eg the lion for silver) is now no longer required nor is the date letter.

The London Hallmark office guide

All items made prior to 1920 became exempt from hallmarking and a general rule enabled items which had legal hallmarks at the time they were made to remain legal. This applies to many of the items here on AntiquesAvenue especially those in the Victorian Jewellery section.

Want to buy a chain? Need to know how long it should be? Chains of different lengths have names, here is AntiquesAvenue's rough guide:

14- 16 inches - Choker - sits above the collar bone

18 inches - Princess - Sits over collar bones

20 - 24 inches - Matinee - Sits over clothing

30 - 36 inches - opera - this can be worn single or double

Longer than this up to 60 inches is a Muff Chain Popular in Victorian times

Buy Chains from AntiquesAvenue

Don't know what size ring you need?
Here is a guide to determining which ring size you need from AntiquesAvenue.co.uk
As with most other things, rings are measured differently depending which country you live in. I provide UK and USA sizes in all my ring descriptions. There is a different sizing system used in Europe. You can buy ring sizing gauges but if you don't have one handy you can estimate your ring size. Take a piece of string and wrap it around the widest part of your finger (possibly the knuckle joint?) - you can now measure the string in millimetres and use Ring Chart

If in any doubt please do ask before buying.