Featured Victorian Brooch Gold Leaves,C Clasp

That back on the gold one is bugging me. I'm wondering if it's been reused.

 

I googled Miriam Haskell and the older pieces look the same with the twisted wire.I believe it was 1930's-40's

 

It's the tube hinge rather than the twisted wire?

 

I just wanted to address something in your title, as I haven't seen anyone else point it out - that first brooch is definitely not solid gold. Might be gold plated, but not solid.

You might want to invest in some testing acid for your items that you think may be gold or silver. You can usually buy a small kit for testing for pretty cheap on ebay (I think maybe $15, idk cause it's been a while since I bought). Buy one that has at least 10k, 14k & 24k gold testing acid, silver testing acid, and a stone to test on.

 

Thank you,I'm going to order me some gold,silver testing

 

Oh, I can't believe I forgot 18k gold acid. It can be used to identify silver too. If you get a bright blue mark when you test with 18k, it's silver.

I personally can never differentiate the maroon shades that come with using silver testing acid, so I usually use 18k gold acid to test silver. If you do that, be sure to get more than a little surface scraping because silverplate will give you the same result as solid sterling silver.

 

Ok,going to order some today!

 

If you haven’t already found sunshine cloths, you may want to check listings - some sellers combine testing acid kits with sunshine cloths in various groupings, sort of a one-stop shopping thing.
If you don’t have a jeweler’s loupe, go on & get a couple, you’ll definitely need them. I use both my 10x and 30x magnifying strengths constantly. Again, look for listings with these included to save on $$

 

I agree about the 18k acid for silver. The only thing I would add is to test your unknown piece along with a known piece of silver for comparison. You scrap the piece on the test stone, apply the acid, and if it’s silver the scraping will disappear then reappear right away as bluish flakes

 

You scrap the piece...........uhh, scrape the piece !!!

don't 'scrap ' it before testing it !!

 

Ooh, yeah, you described that better than I did. Thank you.