Featured Kilt pin

This was my grandfather’s kilt pin. I have always assumed it was silver plate and glass, which I think makes sense. I assume the yellowing showing through is brass? It’s a simple thing and I have always been unsure of wearing it as don’t want to lose or damage it. Not sure if it’s worth getting re-plated or just enjoy as it is in all its imperfect glory. Also, he was a jerk in his day that scratched his initials in to everything, including the family silver which I think is pretty funny.

 

Aah the scratched name is just part of it's history now. Sometimes silver can tarnish to a bit of a yellow look. You can see if it buffs up with a bit of silver cloth or polish (never dip cleaner). Can't tell if the gem is glass or not from here (maybe someone else can). You can take a look at it with magnification to see if there are bubbles (glass) or take it to a jeweler to be seen/tested.

 

Its possibly nickle silver. Will get a silver cloth and see what happens

 

it's a family heirloom, enjoy it as it is...!! imo
& while it looks plated from here...... the stone..... which looks upside down.... may be to nicely cut for glass... imo

 

It is an oldie, late 19th century. It doesn't look like a kilt pin, which is usually long and thin, but rather a plaid pin.
Probably plated, and I agree, the stone is set back to front. Maybe a replacement?
If it is plated (no marks!) the stone is a Cairngorm lookalike, aka glass. Silver ones can be mounted with either real Cairngoms or glass.

 

Agree not a kilt pin. They're typically long, narrow and flat. As identified above.

Debora

 

First off, the only true kilt pins are those large safety pin style ones. (That’s my majority Scottish dna speaking.)

These round jobs are often called plaid brooches, but in reality, most of this stuff was invented by the Victorians, tartan included. Queen Victoria has a lot to answer for. Sir Walter Scott started all the romanticism and such, and she piggybacked on it!

use a sunshine cloth, that will remove the crud.

 

It is true that tartans and Scottish culture were given a huge boost ca 1800, largely thanks to the Prince Regent who thought the restrictions on all things Scottish unjust.
This was years before Victoria, thankfully, because the Dress Act of 1746, prohibiting most Highland dress, including most tartans, was a huge blow to Scottish culture.

But tartans are ancient, and were also worn here in the Netherlands during the Iron Age (maybe even earlier).
The oldest known Scottish tartan is the 3rd century Falkirk Tartan, currently in the National Museum of Scotland.



More on the Falkirk tartan:

https://falkirklocalhistory.club/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/object-4-falkirk-tartan.pdf

 

And let's not forget the Bonnie Prince, Charles Edward Stuart.
This portrait of Bonnie Prince Charlie was painted ca 1737 by William Mosman:

 

Some info on early tartans:

https://www.oldest.org/culture/tartans/

https://www.annabelfrage.com/2016/04/30/of-mummies-in-tartan/

https://www.geometricae.com/2019/10/31/qizilchoqa-tartan-tissue-anonymous/

 

Could be a cairngorm,

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/hill-shepherd-scotlands-gem-cairngorm--581808845591050400/

 

Ah, well now. They were more called plaids than tartan according to the Scottish lump of my family. Basically, camouflage! Other than the Prince across the water of course. The riotously coloured and complex design ones didn’t really get going till aniline dyes were a thing. Nor did that whole schtick about hunting and dress tartans. I can wear something like six variants on my fathers side and five on that of my mother, let alone the septs.

 

Different people always have different ways of naming or describing things. And a family's view on tradition may be 'coloured'.

John, Bishop of Glasgow in 1471 was the treasurer of King James III. He described Tartans in the 1470s, saying, “Halve ane elne of doble Tartane to lyne ridin collars to her lade the Quene.”
https://www.oldest.org/culture/tartans/

Old tartans were often in subdued colours, but not always, as is evident below.
Sometimes we get the impression that old clothes were much more drab than ours, but that is usually due to aging and the conditions they were kept in. Bright colours can be achieved by traditional plant-based means even here in Europe, I have seen the process and results at countless craft fairs etc.

Diodorus Siculus was a Greek historian who made mention of Celtic dress in 100 BC, providing early insight into the history of tartans. Diodorus called the pattern “brightly colored and embroidered … checkered in design, with the separate checks close together.”
(underlined bit by yours truly)
https://www.oldest.org/culture/tartans/

The original Glen Affric tartan, found in a peat bog and dated between 1500-1600. Here it is photographed on top of a reconstruction of the very same tartan:




Laird of Grant’s Piper, William Cumming, by Richard Waitt, 1714.
https://blog.nms.ac.uk/2019/05/26/tartan-romance/


Archibald of Monymusk, 1715

 

I'm only as Scots as scotch tape. No tartans for me except on my pajamas.

 

I bought and sold tartan scarves all thru the 80's !!!!

 

Not that I really know, but shined a light through the stone and it only refracts the stones colour rather than splitting like I would expect glass to, so it might be a cairngorm

 

Take it to a jeweler you trust and ask them to test it.

 

The operative word in @Marie Forjan post is "trust".

If they offer to buy the pin, thank them for their time then leave the place with the pin.