Featured Great Grandmother's necklace question

Discussion in 'Jewelry' started by wiscbirddog, Feb 13, 2019.

  1. Kimbert

    Kimbert Well-Known Member

    4 of 9 children?! incredible! I assume she would've wore a corset, but still!
    I've enjoyed reading this thread, thanks for posting along with the wonderful picture of your great grandmother! :joyful:
     
  2. Marie Forjan

    Marie Forjan Well-Known Member

    No lady of the time would go without a corset :eek:
     
  3. Bronwen

    Bronwen Well-Known Member

    It does not look deep enough to me to be a watch. Think just an ornamental disk, maybe with a pierced design, suspended from a bow brooch.
     
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  4. Figtree3

    Figtree3 What would you do if you weren't afraid?

    Thank you, Bronwen. Yesterday after I posted it that thought did occur to me. I'm glad that I asked.
     
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  5. Northern Lights Lodge

    Northern Lights Lodge Well-Known Member

    How sad that she was swept away in a flood! and worse that she was never identified! :( Leslie
     
  6. Gus Tuason

    Gus Tuason Well-Known Member

    I think that these long chains were also called "muff chains". Also they could be used to hang pince-nez glasses, monocles and other items. They were not limited to women as men used them too. In use with watches men and many times women, had breast and or waist pockets and the watch was placed in them, easily accessed. The lady's watch pin, if used to hold a watch, held an open faced faced watch that had an inverted face with the back of the watch facing outward. Then with a upward twist of the watch the time could be read. I think that that the lady in the picture using both the watch pin and the chain was doing so to show off for the photo. Note that in the old photos both men and women were quite proud of their jewelry.
     
  7. wiscbirddog

    wiscbirddog Well-Known Member

    She was poor as a church mouse so no doubt she was proud of her jewelry. :D
     
  8. Bronwen

    Bronwen Well-Known Member

    Nurses' watches are one thing, meant to stay pinned with a bit of chain so the watch can be moved a bit away from the body to be read.

    [​IMG]

    Having a regular pocket watch on a long chain so you can get it well in front of you makes sense to me & does not require inverted numerals. Having a brooch where you can anchor it when not in use, to keep it from swinging away & smashing into things, also makes sense. A side benefit is that a pretty watch on a pretty pin makes a nice piece of jewellery.

    And of course women put on all their finery for a photo studio portrait.
     
  9. Darkwing Manor

    Darkwing Manor Well-Known Member

    Yes! My mother was a nurse. Here is the Bockstruck Jeweler's guilloche lapel watch she always had pinned on her bosom. Turvey-topsy! She had no trouble seeing it. Alas, no longer running and the jeweler says he cannot repair it.
    Mums Bockstruck jewelers St paul, MN.jpg Mums Bockstruck guilloche.jpg
     
  10. Any Jewelry

    Any Jewelry Well-Known Member

    It is beautiful, Darkwing!
    Sometimes experienced hobbyist watch repairers can do more than jewelers can. Be careful though, ask around.
     
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  11. Bronwen

    Bronwen Well-Known Member

    What a pretty thing for a utilitarian item. Some patients must have found it cheery.

    Did she wear it where you would place a decorative brooch or a little farther down?
     
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  12. evelyb30

    evelyb30 Well-Known Member

    It would have to be somewhere a nurse could read it and keep an eye on whatever at the same time.
     
  13. Bronwen

    Bronwen Well-Known Member

    That's what I am assuming, that is worn low on the bosom, Think pulse taking is the main thing they do that requires timing.
     
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  14. evelyb30

    evelyb30 Well-Known Member

    Or if she did midwifery, contractions. Probably mostly pulse though.
     
  15. Darkwing Manor

    Darkwing Manor Well-Known Member

    and how soon 'til break time.
     
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  16. Darkwing Manor

    Darkwing Manor Well-Known Member

    [QUOTE="Bronwen, post: 4375449, member: 5833"
    Did she wear it where you would place a decorative brooch or a little farther down?[/QUOTE]
    About here: download.jpg
     
  17. Fid

    Fid Well-Known Member

    he's a jeweler - so interested in selling bling-bling... go to an old watchmaker; normally when there is SWISS on it then it has a generic caliber in a certain size in it.
    what's the name printed on the dial ? aaaah, I see it now. first coffee and all...Bockstruck, what a name. they struck ze Billygoat and ate it....

    seems that over the expansion of the business the old knowledge got lost ?
    https://www.rhbockstruck.com/our-history/
     
    Last edited: Dec 25, 2021
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  18. Darkwing Manor

    Darkwing Manor Well-Known Member

    Sounds as if they went over completely to diamonds. I do wonder if they made the watch or were just the retailers. I don't dare open it myself.
     
  19. Fid

    Fid Well-Known Member

    often told, but once again.:)
    after WWI many countries were a bit short of money, so they heightened import taxes and tariffs to new heights. some countries - I belive in South America, don't find the list anymore at the moment - also forbade the import of precious metals completely.
    wott to do ? seperate the stuff into the mechanical parts (ébauches) and the watch cases so it didn't count as watch anymore and pay less import.
    it's well known that the de luxe brands sent over their own watchmakers to reassemble, adjust and control before they were sold. this one here doesn't look too difficult, so "some blokes in a shed"...
    the same procedure happened again after black friday 1929 and lateron when many countries (re-)introduced harsh taxes.
     
  20. Darkwing Manor

    Darkwing Manor Well-Known Member

    Perhaps by then the influence of the 'dress reformers' was beginning to be felt. Even so, corseting began at an early age, usually 10 years old, so the skeletal deformities would have become permanent by the time she reached child-bearing age. And they wonder why we fainted so much! The 1st image is a c. 1870 late-stage mourning bodice from the Cora Ginsberg Collection. 17" waist! cora ginsberg 1870.jpg corset deformity.jpg
     
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