Sunshine in my shadows

Welcome to sunshine in my shadows. This blog is my space to share all the stuff that makes up my every day life. Family, friends, crafts, recipes, books and all the little things that add 'sunshine to my shadows'. We all have a sprinkling of sunshine and an equal sprinkling of shadows in our lives. Hopefully you will find more sunshine than shadows to read about here and on the days when shadows fall, know that the sunshine is peeking just around the corner!


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Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Tuesday trinkets 16...

Some diamante loveliness to share with you all today. Diamante's are difficult to photograph well so I apologise for some of the less than perfect photos.
Pretty in pink! This brooch is probably 1950s vintage, note the aurora borealis finish to some of the diamantes. (Aurora Borealis coating was not invented until the early 1950s and was hugely popular as a finish to jewellery in this era)
1950s brooch

 I love the green in this 1950s beauty. This one is smaller than most of the time measuring approx one inch across.

 This is one of many 'star' brooches I have in my collection. It is marked Danecraft. Danecraft was founded in the 1934 . The company was known for it's quality sterling silver and vermeil jewellery. (vermeil is gold metal over sterling) This star brooch has aurora borealis stones which dates it to at least the early 1950s. Danecraft jewellery was sold in finer department stores. You can visit the official Danecraft website here.


This little bar brooch is just a bit more than an inch across and looks vaguely art deco in design to me. Vintage 1930s?
Pastel blue 'snowflake' brooch. Probably 1950s vintage.
Star or snowflake? You decide. The aurora borealis coating dates this to at least 1950s vintage. It's a tiny brooch barely an inch across. It is beautifully finished front and back and I'm pretty sure it's an unmarked designer piece. You can't see detail in the photo but the dogtooth claw setting of the diamantes makes me wonder if it's a Weiss design.
This brooch is set with plain blue glass and is smallish, a bit more than an inch wide. It is set in what appears to be a cheap metal. I'd guess it's vintage to be from the 1930s or even before then. Cheap and cheerful! Apologies for the reflection of my camera in the centre stone!
This brooch is unmarked. I believe it is possibly a knock off of a designer piece. It has 'shades' of Weiss design but does not have the high quality finish on the back of a genuine piece.
Vintage 1940s?
This is a beautifully finished little brooch. It features emerald green diamantes and what appear to me to be lustre glass beads. I'm unsure of when lustre glass came into usage in jewellery making so am hesitant to guess the vintage of this piece. If I had to hazard a guess I'd say late 1940s or early 1950s but I could be quite wrong! Ann can you shed any light for me?
This is the second time I have tried to get a good photograph of this adorable brooch. It is unmarked but beautifully made. the large centre stone is foil backed. Vintage unknown but I would guess 1930s or early 1940s perhaps.
This brooch is also a bit of a puzzle. It looks well made on the back, is unmarked but the stones have lost their sparkle and are quite dull with age.It is made in layers suggesting it is a designer piece. If I had to hazard  a guess I'd say 1940s vintage or earlier.
This pretty pastel brooch looks like it might be 1950s BUT it has a clasp of a much earlier era on it suggesting it is much older. Early 1900s perhaps? The stones appear to be faceted glass.
A lovely large snowflake brooch this piece measures just slightly more than 2 inches across! The finish on the back suggests it is a Made in Czechoslovakia piece. It looks cheap and cheerful and the aurora borealis finish on the teardrop stones dates it to at least early 1950s.
This little red snowflake brooch is just lovely. Note the beautifully detailed pressed metal pointy bits. The stones are plain glass, sadly I have just noticed one is missing since I took the photograph. Vintage 1930s or earlier.
More cheap and cheerful. I'm not sure what vintage this silvertone snowflake is. It is unmarked and such a classic design could be 5 years old or 50! It is quite large measuring approx an inch and half wide.
More 1950s aurora borealis sparkle.
Star or snowflake loveliness. 1940s?
This one is tricky to date. It looks in great condition and is beautifully layered. The stones are very plain. I can't even venture to guess what vintage it is. It may be quite modern or it may be older and just have been very well looked after.I have seen some vintage pieces that look like they have never been worn.
Another glamorous brooch. 1940s
Another cheap and cheerful piece for last today. This one is pretty tacky but I went a little mad on snowflakes and stars for a time and bought everything in sight LOL! I'm unsure of the vintage but suspect this one is more modern. I hope you've enjoyed the sparklies I've shared today. If anyone can help with dating any of the jewellery I am always happy to have input.

wishing you sunshine in your shadows (it's beautifully sunny here today)
Helen


















7 comments:

  1. Wow your collection must be huge! My favourite this week would be the pastel one.

    E :)

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  2. I could see that you'd posted so came right on over for my weekly sparkly fix, if l ever got amongst your collection Helen l'd be like a kid in a candy shop, it's fantastical and amazing...perhaps we could call the star/snowflakes...starflakes hehe!! pics 1,3,7 and 17 are my faves. Your collection is very impressive. l meant to say last week but got distracted...how much l loved your card collection you bought off ebay, it must have been so much fun looking through them and reading all the cards. Though you mentioned some of them were water damaged it looks as though there were many treasures just the same. Hope all is well with you and your family Helen and glad the sun is shining, it certainly cheers us up.

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  3. I almost missed your post - just getting in on Tuesday before bed.
    Your collection is stunning Helen - I love the star and the snowflake.

    They have photographed really well., A delightful interlude.

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  4. You have the BEST collection, so pretty. Did you find much of it in charity shops etc or was it mainly via Ebay or specialist sites?

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  5. Thanks Em, the pastels are pretty. and yes I am embarrassed by the size of my collection. I plead temporary insanity post divorce which was when I bought most of it LOL.

    Bron I'm like a kid in a candy store going through all my boxes! I really didn't realise my collection was so huge and much of it has been packed away for some time. It really is a pleasure to bring it all out and to share it with like minded ladies! I adore old scrapbooks/cards etc too and the one I posted last week is just amazing.They really just do not seem to make cards like they used to or perhaps they do and I just don't shop in the right places.

    Linda thanks and I am glad you stopped in for some pre bedtime pleasure. Stars so appropriate for nightime hehehe!

    Lakota thank you. Most of my collection was purchased on ebay, a few pieces from charity shops or antique dealers. I have a lot of 'junk' and a few real collectables but I love them all. When I first started collecting vintage costume pieces were relatively cheap ($15 being the average I paid for many of my pieces and more collectable pieces $35 - 50) It really depends on what you want and what kind of condition it is in, also if it's a marked designer piece. Some designer pieces sell for more than others. I have noticed that prices seem to be more varied now with some pieces seeming terribly overpriced to me and others being quite cheap. I am however no expert.

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  6. BLING BLING BLING! I love the rhinestone snowflake the best! WOW...you have quite the collection. Always fun to see what you're going to post.
    Lady Linda

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  7. Lady Linda thanks for your visits and comments. The rhinestone snowflake is rather gorgeous.It's becoming apparent to me that my collection IS rather larger than I thought lol. I'll keep sharing as long as people keep enjoying!

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