Featured Meaning behind these antique brooches?

Hello everyone! I have recently acquired a few brooches. Two of them are marked 9kt gold and the horseshoe one looks like it might be gold fronted. One of the sellers mentioned that the brooch which has oval loops, pearls and a pink crystal potentially has a rhodonite crystal and is Edwardian. I don't know if there is any symbolism or meaning behind these, with the exception of the horseshoe one which may signify luck.

Any opinions, please?

 

Welcome, Hinarushi. Cool brooches. I don't think they meant rhodonite, an opaque pink & black stone. More likely the similarly named rhodolite, a variety of garnet.

 

Thank you! And yes, I meant rhodolite haha.

 

They’re all late nineteenth or so. Horseshoes were a very common motif. That one is the oldest with that tube hinge, the other two a little later. I think the wavy one is a stylised W.

 

I think that stylized W might be a tad later. That gold tone tubular jewelry with ruby-colored stones is typical of the 1940s. What does the mark on the back read?

Debora

 

Oohh, which brooch has the tube hinge? I've only recently started learning about clasps and closures. I think you are right, it does look like a wavy 'W'.

 

The back reads AR or AB with 9CT. The secondary letter after 'A' is a tad difficult to see.

 

Would/could you post an in focus, close-up photograph? That's what we prefer. And someone may recognize or be able to decipher the mark.

Debora

 

It's possible the horseshoe pin is displayed upside down. All the good luck will pour out of the horseshoe that way. Plus with the pointy ends facing upwards, it's more likely to catch on something.

 

THe horseshoe is displayed right side up; the Victorians/British hung them ends down. Hanging them the other way is an American supserstition. The rhodolite sure looks like a classic "raspberry" garnet.

 

Thanks and I agree that is a garnet.

 

Hard to tell what type of garnet it is from a photo. Rhodolite garnets were discovered in North Carolina in the 1890's. Here is a photo of what the original Rhodolite looked like.

 

Hello @Hinarushi & welcome to the forum!!

The horseshoe brooch is the one with the tube hinge.

BTW at the top of the jewelry section is a thread with recommendations for books on all types of jewelry. The recommendations were made by the very kind jewelry aficionados that frequent this forum. You may want to check out your local library to see what you can find there before purchasing one or two.

You are welcome to post anything here you are not too sure about or just want to show off your latest find as these folks love to talk about sparkly jewels among many other things.

 

The W might be into the twenties, but I don’t think it’s a forties back. I’ve Edwardian pieces with that tube design.

Yes, the horseshoe is the tube hinge and yes, that’s the right way up for here.

 

Sure Debora. Apologies for my late reply. Here are some more photos, I tried to zoom in as much as I could, as well as use the Macro camera setting. These new photos are not perfect but I believe the details look like in real life.

I have uploaded some photos of the horseshoe brooch while it's shown as an 'U' and upside down. I personally like it upside down haha! I will wear it both ways.

 

I use a photography contraption made by my boyfriend, of which I have also attached a photo below hehe.

 

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing!

 

Thank you bercrystal! I will check these out!

 

The loop may have had a safety chain attached with what looks pretty much like a safety pin attached. Lots of old pins did, so they couldn't fall off.