Victorian brooch with garnets or?

[DigginDownUnder]

I found this gold plated brooch thing at an old victorian era site.
It has 10 small red stones (garnets?), and looks like it depicts a leaf.




Any ideas on what type of brooch this is?
And what type of stones might they be?

Cheers

 

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[duggap]

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[Jim in Idaho]

I found this gold plated brooch thing at an old victorian era site.
It has 10 small red stones (garnets?), and looks like it depicts a leaf.
View attachment 1036992

View attachment 1036993

Any ideas on what type of brooch this is?
And what type of stones might they be?

Cheers

Really red for garnets...not saying they're not, but really red. I'd check to be sure they're not rubies. You can do that by putting them under an ultra-violet light. Rubies fluoresce brilliant red under shortwave UV, and don't fluoresce, at all, under longwave UV. Nice thing about using UV...you don't have to remove the stones.
Jim

 

[BosnMate]

Really red for garnets...not saying they're not, but really red. I'd check to be sure they're not rubies. You can do that by putting them under an ultra-violet light. Rubies fluoresce brilliant red under shortwave UV, and don't fluoresce, at all, under longwave UV. Nice thing about using UV...you don't have to remove the stones.
Jim

I agree, the color doesn't look right for garnets. Of course this is a photo, and the color might be off, but I'd check to see if they are rubies.

 

[Jim in Idaho]

Could be just colored glass, too. UV testing is nice....if they're garnets, they won't fluoresce, other than some hydrogrossulars.
Jim

 

[diggummup]

With that color and type of setting, I would bet they are glass. It looks like it depicts a cluster of grapes though the leaf shape isn't really correct. That hardware on the back is what has me confused. I've never seen that type before, or maybe I'm just seeing it wrong.

 

[Silver Searcher]

Chances are the stones are just glass, why would any body put real gems in a brass gilded brooch. It looks like a piece of Victorian/Edwardian costume jewellery.

SS

 

[BosnMate]

Chances are the stones are just glass, why would any body put real gems in a brass gilded brooch. It looks like a piece of Victorian/Edwardian costume jewellery.

SS

I agree. Looking at it closer, it's costume jewelery.

 

[DigginDownUnder]

Thanks for all the replies.

I will try the UV test anyways

 

[Breezie]

We need Breezie.

You rang?

Your brooch is from the Art Nouveau era and there's really no way to determine the stones via the photos. On the positive side, gilded brass was used quite frequently during that period of time. Even if the stones are colored glass, they are set nicely with prongs, which is a plus.

Neat find
Breezie

 

[Jim in Idaho]

Thanks for all the replies.

I will try the UV test anyways

I was out by the shop last night, and found a piece of red gem material with the UV light. It shown bright red with shortwave, and yellow-orange under longwave. I thought it was a gemstone, but after close inspection it was an old piece of glass clearance light or taillight. No way to tell how your possible glass pieces will look under UV..it depends on the chemistry of the glass.
Jim

 

[diggummup]

Chances are the stones are just glass, why would any body put real gems in a brass gilded brooch. It looks like a piece of Victorian/Edwardian costume jewellery.

SS

They used real stones back in the day on costume jewelry, believe it or not. Not saying they didn't use glass too, just saying it's not like today. Semi-precious gems (garnets, amethysts, turquoise, coral, pearls, etc.) were commonly used on rolled and plated gold jewelry.

 

[Breezie]

They used real stones back in the day on costume jewelry, believe it or not. Not saying they didn't use glass too, just saying it's not like today. Semi-precious gems (garnets, amethysts, turquoise, coral, pearls, etc.) were commonly used on rolled and plated gold jewelry.

Yes, absolutely.

Breezie