Askew London Teddy Brooch

Does any one have information on Jewellery made by Askew London? I believe that this was made by Sue Askew and was made during circa 1980s. The jewellery appears to be vintage in style, there are some wonderful 1920s revival pieces of Egyptian style brooches and necklaces and I also detect Haskel style influences. Other than that her Jewellery appears to be quite collectable fetching high prices on eBay.

Here is a super special Teddy vintage brooch made by Askew London :

Here is a very sweet Teddy Bear brooch which has an articulated head, arms and legs. This teddy brooch is such high quality that you can sit him down like an ornament if you like. Teddy measures almost 4 cms high


 

Antique Brooch of Hope, the Anchor

Antique BroochThe Antique Brooch comes in many shapes, sizes and materials and a collection of Antique Brooches is often made along a theme. All Georgian Brooches, Mourning Brooches, Silver and Enamel Brooches for example. Vintage Brooches blog is taking a look as some of the more interesting themes you might like to consider for your Brooch collection starting today with Anchor Brooches.

The Anchor is the Victorian symbol for Hope and as well as being found on its own the Anchor can be found in Antique Jewellery along side a heart and cross as "Faith hope and Charity".  The anchor is usually showing with an entwined rope. Victorian anchor brooches are most usually seen made of silver however they can also be made of gold and costume Jewellery. The Anchor can me pain metal, highly decorative or set with precious an semi precious stones. Most original Victorian Anchor brooches will fasten with a simple C catch so do check this out to ensure you have an original piece of antique jewellery.

Here are a couple of antique anchor hope brooches available from AntiquesAvenue:

Antique silver brooch anchor symbol of hope

A lovely antique brooch dating from the Victorian era. This silver brooch is in the shape of an anchor with a silver rope entwined round it. The Victorians saw the anchor as the symbol of hope. This silver brooch measures about 3 cms long and fastens on the back with a simple C catch

Victorian silver brooch agate set anchor

An attractive Victorian silver anchor brooch set with Scottish agate panels. To the Victorians the anchor was the symbol for hope . This piece of antique jewellery measures about 4 cms long


The Anchor symbol in history:
The anchor has been interpreted in different ways throughout history. Early Christians used the anchor as a disguised cross, and as a marker to guide the way to secret meeting places. Often set amongst rocks. It can also be an occupational symbol in sea-faring areas or the attribute of Saint Nicholas, patron saint of seamen, symbolized hope and steadfastness. An anchor with a broken chain stands for the cessation of life.

Amber brooches

 Amber Brooches
Popular nowadays, Amber is one of the materials used in brooches which has been used since the earliest prehistoric times.  Our ancestors in the Bronze age or possibly before, The Greeks, Romans and ancient Celts all treasured amber set jewellery. More recently into Victorian Jewellery, in the Art Deco era and of course the amber brooch is very popular nowadays.  Amber tumbled into beads or as a cabochon is how we normally see this sort of jewellery.



A bit about Amber


Amber, the fossilized resin of pine trees, in the main it has been under the sea for 60 million years. It is found in a range of colours, normally we see it in honey shades but it can vary from a pale whitish or lemon colour through to almost black. Cherry red amber is very sought after and a natural amber in shades of blue is most rare. Natural amber is cut, carved and polished into the required shape. As it is very soft for a gemstone is is possible to carve it quite intricately or alternatively it can be faceted. Most often we see amber polished smooth. If you find a piece of antique jewellery set with  amber you will sometimes find that it has become opaque a sort of butterscotch colour . Modern amber tends to be more translucent often with imperfections inside.

Here is a super Amber brooch, modern but still very attractive, you can see the imperfections. These may be remnants of prehistoric petals and seeds:

Care of Amber Brooches

Take a look at the material the amber is set in. Often this is silver but look for hallmarks to be sure of this or ask your jeweller.

As Amber is quite soft it needs to be handled with some care, store it separately or protected from other brooches so that it does not scratch. Also avoid leaving your amber brooch in direct sunlight for a long time. Solvents in perfume and hairspray can damage your amber, the best thing to do is to use these first and put your amber jewellery on after. Perhaps clean it as soon as practicable after wearing.
When cleaning your amber  please do not use an ultra sonic cleaner or harsh chemicals and do not use a jewellery dip or a silver dip. A soft cloth and a very tiny drop of pure olive oil are often recommended. If the jewellery is set into gold or silver you could try and clean the metal without touching the amber.



How to tell an Amber brooch from costume jewellery Faux Amber

As Amber is so popular these days the price is rising and so fake or faux amber brooches are being produced. How can you tell a real piece of amber from a piece of plastic or resin jewellery? The traditional method was to make a saturated salt solution, amber will float in this where as glass or plastic would sink. This method does not work on pieces of amber which are set into metal as they would sink with the weight of the metal. I have heard that if you stick a hot needle into amber that it smells of pine trees. I am not going to try this on a piece of amber jewellery as it would be damaged.

Here are two tests that you can try on your jewellery. Rub it against a piece of wool, its electrostatic properties produce static electricity which will attract dust. Secondly amber can glow a greenish yellow under an ultraviolet lamp



Valuing an Amber Brooch

Amber brooches can be purchased from about £30 upwards depending on the age, setting, size of the piece and craftsmanship. Very occasionally a piece of amber is found with an insect trapped into it and such pieces if genuine would fetch a few hundred pounds or more. Beware of fakes if the amber is set with an insect though and only buy from a very trusted source. Please pop over to my vintage jewellery shop at www.antiquesavenue.co.uk where I like to have one or two pieces of amber in stock.

Locket brooches

About Locket brooches
Lockets are a very popular form of antique jewellery and vintage jewellery. Normally we think of a locket as a piece of jewellery which hangs around your neck however if you are lucky you can also find antique and vintage brooches which have locket compartments. 

Types of locket brooch:

Mourning Brooches
In Georgian and Victorian times locket brooches were popular for holding a memento of a departed loved one, they were given away with a lock of hair inside.  With mourning brooches the locket compartment is usually at the front of the brooch and the hair can be quite ornately worked into a plait or scroll. This sometimes has gold initials or pearls decorating the hair. Georgian locket brooches are quite small and delicate in comparison to Victorian ones. Just look at the difference in these two examples of locket brooches:

Georgian  Mourning Locket Brooch

Victorian Mourning Locket Brooch

Victorian sweetheart locket brooches
The Victorian Sweetheart locket brooch had the compartment hidden at the back of the brooch. From the front the brooch appears to be a normal piece of jewellery but the lady wearing it knew that there was a secret inside the brooch which only she and her love knew about. Young girls and servants were often forbidden to have boyfriends and so they needed to keep their love a secret. Inside the secret compartment would be a photo, a lock of hair or perhaps a small pressed flower with special meaning.
Here are a couple of examples of Victorian sweetheart locket brooches which both have covered compartments in the back:

Picture locket brooches;

Some locket brooches are specifically meant to hold photographs rather than hair. These tend to have a large display area with little frame. Many of these picture lockets date from around the first world war when a lady would wear a picture of her favourite soldier.
Here is an Edwardian picture locket brooch which could hold a photo in both sides with the picture swivelling so that you can choose which side to display: