Featured Victorian or Edwardian and who is WEW 14k & 10k

Hello!
I’ve dug around and can’t find anything on the initials. Might be a pig poke in the dark but maybe someone here knows. I was curious as to why they would make it 14k on the pin and 10k on the earrings unless that was for strength. Is Taille de e partner the right name for this? What period do you think this is from?

I was tickled pink that I found an actual set and not something married.
Any help is very much appreciated

 

There's something strange about the brooch: the hinge is on the left, the clasp is on the right. This would be awkward for a right handed wearer who dresses herself, but would be an appreciated convenience for a left handed wearer or the maid who has to position it on the bosom of m'lady. If it had fallen off & been reattached carelessly running the wrong way, the clasp would be upside down. It is not, so this was deliberate.

 

You’re so observant! That would have never dawned on me

 

Those aren't constructed the way I'd expect Victorian jewelry to be and the earrings are screwbacks. I would think the set to be Victorian revival not genuinely antique.

Debora

 

Shoot

 

I'm not a jewelry expert. Let's wait for other's comments.

Debora

 

Looking at it, I wonder if the whole thing wasn't converted at some point in the 30s. The earrings were probably pierced originally, but in the 30s-60s most ladies didn't have holes. A later jeweler added those screwbacks. The pin may have been changed around too; maybe something broke on both and they were changed to suit then-current tastes. Since I have no holes either, long story omitted, I'd cheerfully wear them as they sit!

 

I'm with the conversion theory. The plaques look dead right for Victorian, probably part of a much larger parure.

 

A beautiful 19th century gold and taille d'épargne set, imo.
Screwback earrings were introduced in the 1890s, but this set is probably 20 years or so older.
It looks like both the screwbacks and the pin construction are replacements, possibly replaced at different times, the pin later. The original pin would have had a tube hinge and a wire C-clasp.

About the date of screwbacks: My grandmother was born in the mid-1890s, and she never had her ears pierced, not even as a child. The women in her family always followed the latest fashion, so no pierced ears for her, she only wore screwbacks.

 

Forgot to add, WEW is probably the manufacturer of the screwback findings, not of the jewellery set itself.

 

Love those earrings!!!

Just in case anyone is interested (such as teenagers, and, ahem, little old ladies), I should like to point out that those of us who are cowards, who cringe at the sight of needles of any kind, are fortunate in this respect for one reason.

To wit: We need never be seen with drooping, globular earlobes!

Ladies who depend upon a plastic surgeon to maintain their 36-year-old face when they are pushing 67 forget that lobes are like stalicites. They keep growing and growing and are a sure giveaway.

 

Note to self: Should I ever want to look like a 36 year old, don't forget stalactite earlobes.
Also: Look for earlobe exercises to keep them looking young. No heavy lifting!

 

And then you have the people who got those gauge things, and now can never take them out.

 

lol. Too funny

 

A friend of ours stretched them out so far they touched his shoulders. I could never help myself from staring at them. He claims they can be sewn back up but…

 

Whomever did the replacements did a great job. Especially on the pin. The sides line up perfectly. I better acid test all the metals to be sure everything matches their stamps. Thank you all for the help! I appreciate it so much. You guys are so smahhht

 

So they say, at least to some extent, but ... ewwwww.

 

I concur

 

Hie him off to Dr. Pimple Popper! Snip, snip...

 

Lol!! I cringe watch that show. It’s like a train wreck