Vintage 9ct Gold Pansy Stick Pin, Watch Key, Fob
Three vintage 9ct gold items, a pansy stick pin set with enamel and paste, a watch key, and a part fob set with bloodstone and Mother of pearl
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- Mother-Of-Pearl - Mother-of-pearl, technical name "nacre", is the inner layer of a sea shell. The iridescent colours and strength of this material were widely used in the nineteenth century as an inlay in jewellery, furniture, (especially papier mache furniture) and musical instruments.
In the early 1900s it was used to make pearl buttons. Mother-of-pearl is a soft material that is easily cut or engraved.
Nowadays it is a by-product of the oyster, freshwater pearl mussel and abalone industries. - Paste / Rhinestone / Diamante - Paste (or rhinestone or diamante) is the name given to a coloured glass composition used for imitation gemstones, or to imitation gemstones made of glass.
Although the technique of glassmaking had been known for thousands of years, but it wasn't until a lead glass with similar optical properties to diamonds were invented by a German jeweller working in Paris (either "Stras" or 'Strasser") in the early 18th century that "paste" gemstones became popular.
There was no social stigma attached to wearing imitation stones, and they were worn in situations where highway robbery was a possibility. The 18th century settings were of very high quality, equivilent to real gemstone jewellery.
In the nineteeth century the quality of paste jewellery declined and it has remained the poor cousin to genuine gemstones ever since.
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