Antique & Vintage Brooches

Shell cameos are carved from curved shell, so the back is concave, and the image glows faintly when held to a light. Hardstone cameos are cold and show crisp, undercut carving. Moulded resin or glass copies are flat backed, feel light or warm, and show soft detail with seams or bubbles under a loupe.

A micromosaic brooch is set with a picture made of tiny pieces of coloured glass, called tesserae, often views of Rome, flowers or birds. The technique was perfected in the Vatican workshops in Rome in the 18th century, and micromosaics were popular Grand Tour souvenirs through the 19th century.

Antique brooches can be sold to specialist antique jewellery buyers, dealers and auction houses. Victorian, Edwardian and Art Deco brooches in gold or platinum with diamonds or gemstones, and signed pieces, attract the most interest. Send photographs of the front, the back and any marks for a free valuation within one working day.

Marcasite brooches are small pyrite stones set in sterling silver, popular from Victorian times to the Art Deco period. Value depends on the design, the quality of setting, the silver, the maker and condition; signed pieces and those with gemstones or enamel attract the most interest. Missing stones lower interest.

Pin a brooch on a lapel, at the collarbone, on a hat, a scarf or a handbag, or cluster several together. Heavy brooches suit thick fabrics such as wool coats. Many antique brooches have a pendant loop, and double clip brooches separate into two dress clips. Fasten the safety catch every time.

Men wear lapel pins, small brooches and stick pins on jacket lapels, a tradition revived from the Victorian and Edwardian stick pin and the boutonnière. Gold animal heads, horseshoes, insects and small gem-set pins are classic choices. Pin on the left lapel, through the buttonhole if there is one.

Yes. Signed costume brooches by Trifari, Weiss, Jomaz, Coro, Sarah Coventry and others are collected for their designs and signatures, especially figural and jelly belly pieces, flowers and complete sets. They are plated metal with glass or crystal stones, so their value is in design and condition, not metal.

Insect brooches, from bees and butterflies to dragonflies, were popular in Victorian and Edwardian jewellery, often in gold and silver with old cut diamonds and coloured stones. Check that the stones are original and matching, the pin and catch work, and any en tremblant spring mount moves freely.

Art Deco diamond brooches, made from the 1920s to the late 1930s, use platinum or white gold set with old European, baguette and single cut diamonds in geometric designs: bars, plaques, bows and stylised flowers, often with onyx, emerald or sapphire accents. Fine millegrain edges and pierced galleries are typical.

Coro was one of the largest American costume jewellery makers of the 20th century. Its brooches, signed Coro, Coro Craft or Corocraft, include figural pins, flowers and Duettes, pairs of clips joined on a brooch frame. Some 1940s Coro pieces are sterling silver and marked Sterling.

Look for smooth enamel without chips, cracks or repainting, especially on raised edges. Guilloché enamel over an engine-turned pattern and plique-à-jour enamel without a backing are the finest techniques. Check the metal marks and the pin: gold or silver enamel brooches are usually hallmarked.

A flower spray brooch is a bouquet or single bloom set with diamonds or gemstones, popular from the 18th century to the Victorian period. In an en tremblant brooch some flowers sit on fine coiled springs, so they tremble and catch the light as the wearer moves. Many Victorian sprays also detach into smaller brooches.

An antique brooch is valued on its metal, the size and quality of any diamonds or gemstones, the maker or signature, its period and design, and its condition, including the pin, catch and any repairs. Hallmarks and a fitted box add to it. Send photographs for a free valuation within one working day.

An Austrian crystal brooch is costume jewellery set with cut lead glass crystals, many of them made in the Tyrol, where Swarovski began cutting crystal in 1895. Mid-century brooches often mix clear and coloured stones in plated metal. They are glass rather than gemstones, and are valued on design, maker and condition.

The oldest common type is the simple C-clasp, often with a long pin overhanging the frame, used until the early 1900s. Trombone clasps, with a sliding tube, appear from the late 19th century, mainly on European pieces. Rollover safety catches became standard in the 1920s and 1930s. Clasps get replaced, so read them alongside hallmarks.

Madeleine Albright, US Secretary of State from 1997 to 2001, chose brooches to send diplomatic messages. After an Iraqi poet called her an unparalleled serpent, she wore a snake brooch to meetings on Iraq. Her collection of more than 200 pins toured as the exhibition Read My Pins, first shown in New York in 2009.

Yes. Brooches are wired or pinned onto the ribbon wrap of a bouquet, either a single family brooch or a cluster forming a brooch bouquet. Fix them by the pin and catch, never with glue or wire through the openwork, so an antique piece can be removed afterwards and worn again without damage.

Sweetheart jewellery was given by servicemen to wives, mothers and girlfriends during the First and Second World Wars. The usual pieces are brooches made as small copies of regimental, RAF or naval badges, in silver, gold, enamel or paste, and lockets holding a photograph. The regiment and the materials help date a piece.

Florenza was the brand of Dan Kasoff Inc. of New York, named after his wife Florence and used from about 1948 until 1981. The firm made gold-tone costume jewellery in Victorian and Renaissance revival styles, with antiqued metal, paste stones and faux pearls. Condition, complete stones and design decide value. Send photographs for a free valuation.

Butler & Wilson is a London jewellery firm founded by Nicky Butler and Simon Wilson, who began by selling antique jewellery in 1969 and opened their own shop in 1972. From the 1980s they became known for bold costume pieces, including crystal lizards, spiders, flowers and figural brooches, signed on the back.

Original by Robert is a mark of the Fashioncraft Jewelry Company, set up in New York in 1942 by Robert Levy, David Jaffe and Irving Landsman. The firm made costume brooches, necklaces and earrings with art glass beads, faux pearls, rhinestones and hand-wired flower sprays. The company later traded as Robert Originals.

A Celtic brooch is a ring or penannular brooch with a long pin, worn to fasten a cloak. The best known is the Tara Brooch, made around 700 AD and found at Bettystown, County Meath, in 1850, now in the National Museum of Ireland. Dublin jeweller George Waterhouse sold copies, helping start the Victorian Celtic revival.

A brooch is a decorative ornament with a pin on the back. The pin swings on a hinge, passes through the fabric and rests in a catch, which is then closed or turned to lock it. Brooches descend from the Roman fibula, a safety pin used to fasten cloaks, and are called pins in the United States.

Most women wear a brooch on the left, near the heart, on a lapel, collar or coat, and men wear lapel pins on the left as well. There is no fixed rule. A brooch can sit at the right shoulder, the neckline, the waist or on a hat, wherever it balances the outfit and the fabric can carry its weight.

Push the pin through two small bites of fabric, then close the catch fully and turn any safety lock. Heavy brooches need firm fabric such as wool, or a felt backing behind thin silk. A safety chain, a short chain with its own small pin, holds the brooch to the garment if the main catch opens.

Yes. A jeweller can straighten or replace a pin, refit a hinge or solder on a new catch or safety lock. Laser welding lets repairs be made close to stones and enamel. Never glue a fitting onto an antique brooch, because glue damages the metal and lowers value, and keep any original fittings that come off.

Store each brooch with the pin closed, in its own compartment, soft pouch or the original box, so pins cannot scratch other jewellery. Keep them flat, dry and away from sunlight. Paste and costume brooches with foiled stones must stay away from damp, which clouds the foil, and should never be soaked in water.

The ornament is spelt brooch and is pronounced to rhyme with coach. Broach is a verb meaning to raise a subject or pierce a cask. Both words come from the Old French broche, a long needle or roasting spit, which is why the spelling broach was once used for jewellery too.

Brooches have marked love, loss and loyalty. Scottish luckenbooth brooches with entwined hearts were betrothal gifts, Victorian mourning brooches held a lock of hair, and sweetheart brooches carried regimental badges. Motifs add meaning: a horseshoe for luck, forget-me-nots for remembrance and ivy for fidelity.

In Japan the dragonfly is the katsumushi, or victory insect, a symbol of courage worn by samurai. In Western jewellery dragonflies became a key Art Nouveau motif of about 1895 to 1910, with René Lalique's Dragonfly Woman corsage ornament the best known. Antique dragonfly brooches use plique-à-jour enamel, diamonds and gold.

Yes. Jewellery, including brooches, is allowed through airport security and in hand luggage. Large metal pieces can set off the metal detector, so you may be asked to remove them for the X-ray tray. Keep valuable jewellery with you rather than in checked baggage, and ask for a private search if needed.