Featured Victorian Rhinestone/Paste Brooch (also gross)

This is the second of the two brooches I picked up this morning. Unfortunately missing a stone, but it'll will stay in my repair pile!
This one is also very gross, and I'm not sure how to clean this one. I've not taken anything to it yet, maybe a cloth and see how that goes?​

Any ideas as to age? Its tiny, maybe an inch and a half to the end of the pin. With the long pin, definitely Victorian right? How early are we talking though?
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Thanks for looking!​

 

A little treasure, and certainly antique. It looks like black dot paste.

Yes, no liquids, because that gets behind the paste.

 

Oh goodness really? I did have a quick search but the ones I saw had more obvious dots, and set in silver. My euro is feeling more of a steal by the moment!

Yes quite right, I'll try a dry or slightly damp cloth after dinner and see how it goes. Its not grody like the other brooch from this morning.

 

Rachel, do you have a sunshine cloth? It would work wonders on a beauty like this.

 

Agree on no liquid. Start with a soft brush, old toothbrush maybe. You can use a little tiny bit of spray window cleaner on the brush itself but not till you’ve brushed off the crud. Then a sunshine cloth.

 

Unfortunately I don't have one, does it being brand name matter at all? I can't find them on french amazon, but there are similar ones.

 

I ordered mine through Etsy, and an EU seller.

 

Ah okay good to know, thanks!

 

Any ideas as to the age of this, or is Victorian as close as we're gonna get? I've seen different similar pieces spanning over 100 years haha

 

Usually, the longer the pinback, the older the pin.

 

Yep that's why I pounced on it! Its definitely the oldest piece in my collection now

 

I buy my sunshines on eBay, a US seller.

This thing is early. May well be Georgian.

 

That's music to my ears let me tell you! I was reading that the longer pin and the pronged fastening of the stones was more of a victorian thing, but I'm seeing a few long pins listed as Georgian online.

 

Is the metal pinchbeck or just a base metal? The pinchbeck I'm seeing looks more gold tone then mine...

 

It’s the look and cut of the stones which say Georgian to me as well. It may be brass.

 

Oh I see, I did have a look at various cuts but I've zero clue when it comes to that. Are these rose or old mine cut? Or something else entirely? I'm enjoying the learning process!

 

I cleaned as instructed and its looking a little better. A little of the casing/foil from the missing stone came out but I saved it in case its useful in the replacement process.
In this picture and under a loupe I see little bits of orange, is this copper from damaged foil in some of the stones?
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It looks much better, @RachelW -- I don't know the answer to your latest question, and hope that somebody else will know.

 

I think you’re seeing the brass back through damaged foil. Don’t worry too much about it.

 

If you want to keep at it I recommend dip a soft toothbrush in rubbing alcohol, shake it off until almost dry, and go over it gently. Then use a hairdryer on the cool setting to evaporate any remaining alcohol. This removes a lot of gunk like hair spray.