Featured Help With Dating and Repairs

What's up. So, love to get some thoughts on this item - I am torn on dating it and would like to get an opinion before carrying it off to my antique jeweler.

Do you believe it is worth taking over to my jeweler to clean up the piece and repair for resale - to include the enameling. If I repair it, what is the most you would invest in it, and should I have a pin put on the back as it appears it would have had in the past or should I have it converted to a pendant.

What do you think I can retail it for?

measures 2.75" by about 1.5". Mix or silver and gold - karat not tested at the time - I've not had a chance to go see my gold dealer to use their Niton XL2 yet.

Ruby and 30 rose cut diamonds.

 

How the hinge is made is an important clue to dating it. We need to see it.

You haven't had a determination on the gold yet; we can't say what we would pay for it yet.

 

There is no hinge,just a blob of solder.The "diamonds" do not appear to be rose cut,photos too blurry.Bad previous repairs,missing pieces,excess solder,what appears to be silver wires and not gold......

 

2nd picture shows it was a pin fastened brooch (Broach?) - but obviously the pin part is long gone. Just the catch is still there.

 

Would you tell us how you came by it and what you were told about it? (That's always a good starting place.)

Debora

 

Love the butterfly. Is that damage to the enamel on the top one?
It’s a bit of an oddity having diamonds and rubies but the workmanship is so slapdash. Have the gems been tested?

 

It seems it began its life as a 18th century aigrette (hair ornament).

The remaining elements were put back together (either from old damage or because fashion...) as a brooch, using lead solder because of enamel and stones foils (can see evidence of colored foil under the red stone!) couldn't stand the heat of better solder.

I take the bets for diamonds as clear stones! Have them tested
Your jewellery, IF used to work on older pieces, can certainly improve it

https://www.antique-brooches.com/georgian-diamond-flower-brooches/

 

It's an interesting piece. I think the stones maybe mine cut diamonds or rough diamond crystals and the red stone a mine cut ruby. If they are, the metal may be high karat gold. The solder may be lead or silver, probably lead. Yes, it appears roughly constructed but would be dramatically improved with some TLC. I like it.

 

With a little TLC that will be Gorgeous, as it's already very nice!!!! Please DO tell all you know, both NOW and AFTER you see your Jewellery friend!!!! AND when it's fixed, we positively MUST see it!!!!!! PUHLEEZE!!!!

 

A pendant will be more wearable than a brooch and more saleable. It's lovely. Dragonflies are very popular. If you do leave it as a brooch, maybe have a bale loop added to make it more versatile.

 

ha! I apologize, we have a property in the blue ridge mountains my wife dragged me off to it, and since I get no notifications I had no email responses.....sigh.... so, where to begin;

Let me start with, the piece is broken further. I'll not get into that other than to say bouncing something like this up in the air trying to catch it then helplessly watching it drop to the ground does not tend to end well.....

At the end of the day, that one event was Gods way of making my decision for me; a butterfly pendant and a flower pendant....lol.

Anyway, funny thing, headed back out to the mountains, this time the great smoky range for a week .... woot!

 

Hollyblue, the diamonds on the butterfly are a rose cut style and clearly later than the flower piece. It is silver wire, to gold leaves. It is definitely a mess, missing at least 1 component - one branch. The triple diamond branch lower left facing looks to have been the piece that ran down the stem - so missing two pieces maybe?

 

Debora, it was on a whim at an online auction. I didn't like the piece, but it was large enough I felt I could scavenge bits and have my jeweler produce something desirable; i.e. do what was originally done and assemble something new.

At the end of the day, I feel like I paid to much at 300 or so dollars, and should have kept that bid in my pocket as bits like these take a long time to sell for any kind of money and I will have to sink some money into it first to get it to a place where I can get a decent ROI. I have walked this path many times, but just hate the thought of pieces like this getting scrapped.

 

KSW, The butterfly is the reason I placed that single bid. I still feel like cleaned up, it will make a nice lovely pendant that will fetch a nice price. The enamel looks to have spots left unenameled to allow the underlying gold to show through, but at the same time, it could be chipping....lol.

The butterfly is a mix of gold and silver with rose cut style & flat cut diamonds. Yes, the gems have been tested using my diamond tester. My gem tester is showing this as a red spinel. I should have known better than to use the words of the auction house on what was mounted....it came in the same day we were headed out and I wanted to get it up and get some feedback.

 

Hmmm... I thought it was a butterfly or moth. Could it be a dragonfly? Darn.....

 

Ahhhhh...that is interesting. I will have to dig into what an aigrette is. I try to stay away from accessories and the like and tend to just buy stuff I find curious or interesting.

In the end, this is really what I think I may have been trying to figure out, as I knew it was old, I just wasn't sure on the date and what it might have been. That is some fine information and really helpful!!!! Yes, as noted above, diamonds are real

 

Was I the only one who read the heading "Help with Dating and Repairs" and was expecting a question about something other than jewelry?

(Guess that's what sometimes can happen when checking New Listings rather than Forums!)

 

I am sorry really for the confusion. Yes, I was hoping to get someone else's opinions on the age and thoughts on repair vs value etc. I figure someone else's expertise might be just a tad better than my present guess ...

At the end of it all, I will just do what I normally do on things like this and throw some money at it, price it out of this world when I list it for sale, and while it sits waiting on a buyer or the kids who'll have to deal with it, I'll frame it up in a shadow box and display it on the wall for all my guests to enjoy.