Love Is In The Air

Just in time for the coldest month of the year as the days begin to grow ever so slightly longer and brighter - love is in the air. Valentines Day is fast approaching and we wanted to showcase some inspiring finds that will make great gifts for a beloved or just for yourself. Here we have a Victorian locket that trumps all with it's 'I Love Only You' inscription. The front of the locket has some nice Champagne Paste Rhinestones set into 9ct pinstripe Rolled Gold. The pictures here show it as it came to us but we're cleaning it up & putting it on an 18" chain - it's going to be absolutely lovely! Keep an eye out here for upcoming in-store & web promotions as Saint Valentine approaches..

Antiques, Day 5

 

Today's stunner is a large Georgian Black Dot Paste Stick Pin in pristine condition. At 175 years old we should all look this good! Paste is a very hard form of glass that was originally used as a substitute for diamonds by a growing middle class that couldn't quite afford them. Black Dot Paste is known as the highest quality form of the genre & has a tiny black dot painted on the very bottom underside of the stone, thought to have mimicked the open culet of early diamond cuts which often look quite dark or black. Apart from the substitution of paste for diamonds there was little difference between them. In fact, the craft required to cut paste is said to be more demanding and difficult than the art of cutting diamonds. 

Antiques, Day 2

For our second installment of new antiquities we've got something really special. Dating all the way back to 1870 is an original Victorian Whitby Jet Necklace in beautiful condition. For the unfamiliar, Whitby Jet is a semi-precious stone mined in Whitby, North Yorkshire on the English coast in the mid to late 1800's. It is actually fossilized wood which when polished takes on a rich, glowingly opaque sheen. The way you know you have real Jet & not Onyx or Vulcanite is by it's weight, despite the size of this necklace it's very light. The pendant on this features beautifully set paste rhinestones. Jet has become highly collectible & this piece is particularly nice as it's on the original cord with the velvet tie intact - very wearable! 

Paste Jewelry

Paste jewelry is a term used to describe cut leaded glass that is faceted to have the same appearance as gems or precious stones. It can be traced back to 18th Century France, where paste jewelry became very popular, even among royalty. Nowadays paste has become quite the collector's item!