Tiny seed pearl antique pieces

[eloisegirl]

An earlier thread discussed seed pearl pieces, so I dug out my seed pearl bits to photograph. The peridot bird brooch was at the lost and found at my church, and since it had been unclaimed for ages, I was able to get it. The bar pin with the green stone was four dollars at a different church sale, and the starburst was my great-grandmother's. The bar pins are 2" and the starbust is 1". It is 14 k gold and is a brooch as well as having a folding bale so it may be worn as a pendant. Hope you enjoy the pics!

 

[GemGeek]

Thanks! Great photos of beautiful pieces.

 

[Caitlin]

Those are so sweet! Thanks for showing them to us.

 

[MSC]

Very cute, especially the bird brooch!

 

[hbyrne]

Pretty! These pieces are American? These kind of designs with seed pearl swallows, stars, crescent moons and hearts are circa 1890s...in the UK they were sometimes sold as 'fianc?e jewellery'. I love them

 

[eloisegirl]

Yes, my grandmother's starburst pin is definitely American - it probably belonged to her mother who was married in 1900 (grandmother came along in 1904). I also have my great-grandmother's amethyst necklace with some natural pearls on it - they are like little nuggets, not pearl shaped at all.

I also have my great grandmother's art nouveau pearl ring, with roses in a naturalistic shape and I think the pearls are river pearls - they have a blue grey sheen to them. I will post photographs when I am able to do so.

 

[pattye]

What a pleasure to see your antique pieces, and hear their stories. All are beautiful. Looking forward to seeing more!

 

[eloisegirl]

Here is the amethyst necklace that was my great-grandmother's (she was born in 1877 and died in 1967).

 

[eloisegirl]

I think the gold is 9 or 10 kt. Some closeups of the pearls.

 

[hbyrne]

A really lovely design...are there any marks on it...it may be just the photos, but the gold looks quite matte. Also pics from the back to show the construction would be good

 

[lisa c]

These are cool, missed them the first time around.

 

[Sea Urchin]

Lovely! Thanks for sharing.

 

[lisa c]

Do you guys ever go to the Similar Threads section down below? I'm easy to lead around by the links, I think. ;-)
anyway I hope I'm not boring folks with too much, or too recent repetition. The info is fun to read and share.

I'm 60, and grew up seeing these sorts of things on the old (I thought) ladies, so I don't find them unusual or intriguing, just regular but fun. The necklaces and such made entirely and elaborately of seed pearls and MOP bases I find thrilling.

I'm inclined to ask people here "what do you find thrilling?" on a new thread, but I think it's got to already have been started with another name, like 'What floats your boat?' or something......

Oh! I think it has Wish List somewhere in the title. Nooooo, hm...that's for new pearls. Oh well, It'll turn up!