Featured Questions on Two Antique/Art Nouveau Gold Pins

I was lucky to find these two antique pins yesterday (for about $8.50 each). They're both about 1" (25mm) across. I tested the gold and they both tested at least 10k. Although they're unmarked, does anyone have an opinion as to what part of the world they're from?

I'm wondering if I can assume the reddish stone is a garnet (I don't have a gem tester). The two small pearls passed the teeth test; can I assume they're natural pearls? (The deep scratches on the back of the pin were there when I bought it.)

The pin with the lily has a river pearl and I'm wondering, since the pin on the back goes straight across the middle, if it should be oriented with the lily facing up, down, or sideways.

 

Gorgeous, Joan.

Near impossible, they are both in a pretty generic Art Nouveau style. The one on the right in the first photo is French influenced, but I would guess it is not from France.

 

Thank you Any Jewelry.

 

While you can pin either one in any orientation you wish, the designer probably had in mind that it would be with the pin inserted horizontally, wearer's right to left. If your maid is pinning it on you, then other way around. Pins positioned vertically on the brooch body seem to have been a thing before the Victorian era; not seen much after that. These are 20th century pieces.

The color of the stone is good for garnet but glass can't be ruled out, even if the metal's gold.

 

Unless the lily brooch is one of a kind, which I'm guessing it's not, I don't think you can assume the pearl is a river pearl. Manufacturer would need many pearls of similar size & shape to make multiples of the brooch. Cultured freshwater is more likely. 'Natural' is reserved for non-cultured & is not synonymous with 'genuine', the opposite of 'man made.'

Is there something on the back of the lily brooch?

 

Seconded on the 20th Century origin for both. The hardware is all wrong for Victorian, but dead on for 1920s/1930s (garnet) and post-WWII (lily). Somebody filed into the older one to check gold content. The Victorians made gold-filled well enough that it can be sometimes mistaken for solid gold.

 

Nothing on the back in the blue circle.
I noticed earlier, however, that there's a strange loop of metal folded over on the back of the lily brooch, so I looked more closely and I'm thinking this was originally a pendant before someone had a jeweler fold over the loop and solder on a pin and safety catch, which could be newer than the original pendant. When I look at the pendant/brooch with a magnifying glass, it looks too imperfect to be mass produced.

 

Thank you to all who provided opinions and information--very helpful. I'm logging off for today.

 

My guess is the pin was originally made into more than one thing. They only made one design/pattern for the circle, and also made some of the same casting into necklaces. Chains may have hooked onto the loops.

 

The pin and safety catch are definitely replacements, that was the first thing I noticed. The other brooch has had the clasp replaced, and the hinge part that is soldered onto the body of the brooch. The hinge bar of the pin sticks out a bit on either side. It would have been set in two loops of the same width as the cross bar.
Old brooch pins and clasps were often replaced for safety, a pain when trying to date something. But in the case of the floral brooch it could have been a pendant turned into a brooch, as you thought.

 

I decided to see if I could find a jeweler who would give me their opinion on these two pins (the jeweler who used to test things for me went out of business). I called another jeweler this morning (25 miles away--I live in a rural area), so I'm going to drive over, then visit some thrift stores while I'm out, and will have more information later today.

 

krementz?

 

So here's what the jeweler said about the garnet pin -- the garnet is real, the two little pearls are natural seed pearls, the metal is solid gold, and the pin/clasp is a replacement.

The lily pin is also solid gold (the jeweler could tell by the way the pin/clasp was soldered on, which appeared to be original), the pearl he called a natural rice pearl, and he said the area with the bent over loop and the two curved connecting loops doesn't look original.

It would have cost $10 for a test to determine the gold content, so I'm going with my 10k test, although they both might be 12k because the 14k acid didn't completely dissolve the gold marks.

 

Congratulations!!!!!!!

 

Thank you

 

Thanks for letting us know, Joan. Great news.

 

I was beginning to have doubts about these pins, but I appreciate everyone's comments because they made me realize I needed to see a jeweler for more definitive answers -- and everyone's comments helped me to know which questions to ask.