Tigers eye? brooch marked help ID

Hi folks,

Came across this brooch, the stone seems agate Tigers eye?, feels rather heavy and cold, it is marked with an A in a triangle. Read that Napier's has a mark A in a triangle but mine does not seem to be this one. Any thoughts and suggestions are welcome. Thank you for looking!

 

A pretty brooch and nice colour, but given the glued pin back it is unlikely the stone is real. It is probably glass.

You're right, this isn't a Napier mark or design. The 1923 Napier A is enclosed by the triangle.
It looks Austrian or Czech to me, but I am no specialist in costume jewellery.

Tiger's eye and agate are two different stones. Tiger's eye has chatoyancy, gold stripes that seem to slide, disappear and appear again as you move the stone.

 

Forties or fifties glass. I’m pondering the mark.

 

"Chatoyancy." Lovely word! Thank you, AJ!

 

Any, thank you very much for your detailed answer! It could very well be glass, but as far as I can judge the pin back is not glued but is nailed with two nails, one next to the clasp and another one on the opposite side, behind the catch of the pin.
The "stone" is very smooth, like lacquered, and has strange pattern beneath the lacquer, spotted with dark spots on brownish surface, and looks like fur of a cheetah.
My photos are not good, will try to make a photo of the "stone" without reflection.

P.S. Definitely not glued as it does not fit completely at the metal back.

 

Thank you, OBB! The mark makes me crazy, otherwise the brooch is very ordinary and I would not bother with its ID.

 

That is also not the type of fastening that is likely to go together with tiger's eye.

Sounds like it could be some type of art glass, the Czechs were good at that kind of thing.

 

Yup, Czech art glass is superb.

 

Any, thank you so much! No worry, I don't care much if it is glass or stone, I just want to know First I thought it was some kind of resin, faux amber, but it is too smooth and cold, somehow.

B.t.w. Is tiger's eye something desirable? I have the feeling it is rather wide-spread and offered a lot from China.

Thank you, OBB! So it must be some Czech mark, then.

 

Art glass is very beautiful and it can be quite valuable too. You have seen saphiret and how we joolies all want certain saphiret pieces, That is art glass too.

It is one of the traditional stones of China, where it is considered very special. Other important traditional Chinese stones are of course jade, but also turquoise and rosequartz.

In Europe and European-influenced countries it doesn't hold special importance. But it is a very pretty stone.

 

Not necessarily Czech mark. Art glass and stones were exported like mad.

 

Have you shone a UV torch on it? Long shot but I’ve got some brown glass beads with the dark spots and they are UV reactive.

 

Thank you, Any! Saphiret is really beautiful but IMO its preciousness is due to the shortage of its supply as it ceased to be produced long ago and being glass usually put in pot metal frames, it was not cherished and kept, and hence very few pieces survived until now. At least this is how I explain its crazy prices.

I understand the importance in China but they seem to export huge quantities of tiger's eye jewelry and very cheap, at least this is my impression. Otherwise it is indeed beautiful.

Thanks KSW, I did, it is not UV reactive.

 

Saphiret was already cherished in its day, and it was even set in silver, just like some other types of art glass.
You never know, maybe your stone is a rare type of art glass too.

I think they export huge quantities of many stones.

 

Maybe

Yes, and also quite cheap

 

Cheap labour, and not much spent on safety measures.