Antique & Vintage Diamond Brooches

Diamond cuts through the periods

Rose-cut diamonds, with a flat base and a domed, faceted top, are typical of Georgian and early Victorian brooches. Old mine cuts, cushion-shaped with a high crown and an open culet, dominate the 19th century. Old European cuts, rounder and brighter, run from about 1890 to the 1930s. Baguettes and calibre cuts mark the Art Deco years, and the modern round brilliant became standard after 1945.

Settings and metals

Victorian diamond brooches were usually set in silver backed with gold, which kept the stones looking white and protected clothing from silver tarnish. Platinum replaced this after about 1900, allowing finer, lighter settings. White gold appears in later brooches, and some 1940s pieces are palladium.

En tremblant and convertible brooches

Some 19th-century diamond sprays are mounted en tremblant, with flower heads on tiny coiled springs that tremble as the wearer moves. Many star and spray brooches were made to convert, with a fitting that lets them be worn as a pendant or on a tiara frame. Check any original fittings are present.

Estimated weights

Diamonds set in a brooch cannot be weighed without removing them, so total carat weights for old-cut stones are careful estimates from measurement, stated as such in the listing.

What to check

Look for missing or chipped diamonds, worn claws and thin settings, especially on the points of stars. Turn the brooch over for solder repairs, replaced pins and old fittings. Closed-back settings should be dry and the stones bright.

Popular subjects

Stars and crescents, floral sprays, bows and ribbons, insects and birds, horseshoes and leaves appear in diamond brooches across the 19th and 20th centuries. Bows and ribbons run from the Georgian period to the 1950s, so the cut of the diamonds and the metal help more than the motif in dating a piece. Sprays mounted en tremblant were made mainly in the second half of the 19th century.