Types of Jewelry Part 2- Brooches, Lapel Pins, Scarf Pins, Hatpins and Other Sharp Things

Admit it, you gotta love brooches. From the sparkly stone studded to the plain jane metal... brooches are fun to wear and can be quite beautiful.

Vintage brooches

My love of brooches, stick pins and hatpins came from my maternal grandmother who had an obsession with them I believe.  She had numerous jewelry boxes filled to the brim with every conceivable type of brooch you could imagine. Some were really nice, but most of them were rhinestone and not worth a lot back then... now? They bring a pretty penny.

Modern Brooches

I have a few of my grandmother's brooches, and some of her other costume jewelry... I don't think I have much in the way of expensive items, but I love them nonetheless.


Brooches have been around forever it seems, the historical data on them goes back to some of the first pieces of jewelry that existed. Probably because they were part of clothing... before buttons, zippers or hook and eyes. Men stuck a sharp object through leather to hold it up. It's thought that it was at first a thorn then it graduated... Bronze age saw utilitarian pieces being made of bronze, and were bow shaped.
 
 There are many examples of not only the bow shaped brooch but of the evolving of the styles of brooches.  There is a lot of technical lingo in the styles, but I'll put a link up for some extra reading at the bottom of the page.

 The basic shapes are:
 Bow- Round and bowed almost like a safety pin.
Annular - Round but not bowed.
Discoidal- solid plaque or ornament on face and simple pin and hook on back
Pen Annular- had a gap in the ring, attributed to the Celts. 
Spina- The Roman form was held with a thorn
Fibulae- One piece, 

Rustic scarf pin

From The Roman, Greeks, Etruscan, Briton, and Byzantines all had huge influence over the development of brooches... but in the early Christian period, there were great strides in the development of using symbols and inscriptions on brooches during the 5-6 century.  The Byzantines added the ornament to the jewelry. 

Later on, brooches grew in size, especially in the 17th century, when the size grew and enamels and amber were used to decorate.

A brooch is described as an ornament fastened to clothing by a hinged pin and clasp.
Lapel pin is a small pin worn on clothing usually a lapel.
Scarf pin is a decorative pin used to hold a scarf or tie in place...

Hat pins and pins for scarf decorations

Hat Pin... well, it's used to hold a hat in place... or just for decoration!

I make jewelry, so I have a few pieces that I've made myself, but more than that... I love and own some fun and funky... and sometimes nice pieces of jewelry. These hatpins are some that I like... I have made them for quite a while, since another love of mine is hats. I won't go into that here, but needless to say, if you love hats or like me, make hats... you need hat pins!

pins for holding fresh flowers

 Wearing fresh flowers doesn't have to mean they will wilt... these little vials are made to wear with a tiny bit of water and fresh flowers that will stay fresh for hours!

During the Victorian era, the brooch underwent a surge of popularity.

 The Queen wore them with style, even after the death of her husband, her mourning jewelry was made up of beautiful jet brooches. The  stones set into brooches of this period were made set with stones as varied as the material they were made from. Tortoise shell and mother of Pearl and rose gold, coral, ruby, emerald, sapphire, ivory, topaz, opals... to name a few.

Grouse Foot Pin

The Grouse Foot Pins are something that catch the attention. I have one... it's very plain anad the jewel is amethyst, not the prettiest stone in it, but it serves the purpose.  These pins are normally worn on a kilt when hunting... for grouse. The pins have been around for a long time, but documented they are only found from around the early 1800s.  An interesting thing is that some have inscriptions on them, and it's not what you might think in this Celtic nation...the word Mizpah, which is Hebrew. 

The term means literally, Watchtower. Mizpah has become known as remembrance... because of the verse in Genesis 31:49- ....The Lord watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another. Or it also has the meaning of the covenant between Jacob and Laban... it was a an agreement of peace of sorts between the two.  (Genesis 31:25-55)

...So the stories abound about this type of pin... it is said that it was worn as a symbol to bring good luck to the hunt... it was also purported to be, when encrusted with a family crest or the word Mizpah, to show that the hunter had the blessing of the Laird to hunt on the property... 

Another is that it was worn in defiance of the Laird and his claim to the land...Kind of two ends of the spectrum here.   No matter what the symbol, the grouse or ptarmidgan foot  one of those types of jewelry that you have to have one in your collection.

Small Egyptian themed brooch from the 1920s

In the 1920s there was a boom in the mummy business. Egypt was a source for excitement and romantic adventures. The Pyramid of Giza was opened in 1922, and the whirlwind love affair with Egypt began. Women wore jewelry fashioned after the finds, or with carved stones, such as this one, that depicted scenes that are very reminiscent of Egyptian scenes. 

Throughout history, women have loved whimsical jewelry. Two of these brooches are made from jade, and are from the 1960s when jade was rather prolific. The third is a small ladybug pin that is not very old, just cute!

 These cute animal pins are made of various materials. The Scotty on the top left is steel with enamal, rhinestone, and acrylic. The little duo of Scotties are bakelite, one black, one white. The next Scottie is made of paper backing and glass beads with a small enamel on metal charm. The cat is vinyl, from an old record. I love making items that are different and fun to wear. The Bakelite is vintage, but cute and is fun. 

 

Bakelite and rhinestone with gold tone 1950s from Britain

Military hat pins

There is not enough space here to go into the hatpins and other types of lapel pins from the military. I think that subject will wait for another day, where there is enough space to do it justice.


An interesting site to visit is the Guyot Brothers Company, Inc. page, it is full of technical terms and history of brooches. Wonderful place to visit. 

  Another wonderful site is Scot Clans. It has numerous photos of the stone carvings depicting Pen-Annular type brooches, and a few of the relics that can be found in the National museum

And the National Museum of Scotland... which has some of the most beautiful antiquities of all. One of the magnificent finds displayed is the Hunterston brooch pictured above.