Featured The Magic of Antiquers & the Maltese Cross

Sometimes, I forget how important a role that the members of this forum play in my life. This was all brought back into focus, when two photographs appeared in my inbox of a 18KT Gold Filigree Maltese Cross. This all started with a discussion of a piece of jewelry during which I brought up a Maltese Cross that a dear friend had purchased in 1973 for his girlfriend at the time, when he was visiting this aunt in Malta. I asked for a photo to share. The former girlfriend, a scientist of some note, had just sold her home and was moving to another state. The piece had been packed away, and was supposed to stay hidden for a year until her new house became available.

My request to post a picture of this cross brought a back memories of this piece purchased 47 years ago by a 17 year old who wanted to impress his girlfriend. She went searching for the brooch, and during the discussion of the effort to find it, she said she had returned to Malta when she was in Europe for work. The upshot was that this beautiful filigree work, which was ubiquitous in 1973, had disappeared from the shelves of Maltese jewelers.

The magic happened when interest in this brooch resulted in her deciding to bequeath it to my friend's daughter in her will. Many thanks to @Ownedbybear and @Any Jewelry for your comments that resulted in a renewed joy in this special piece. And a warm THANK YOU to all the members of the forum for all your kind, knowledgeable and humorous responses to my posts.

 

Which reminds me. I found this in my stash. Now wondering what it's made of....

 

I love this. It's like a painting of a miniature garden within a frame. It obviously took some skill to make those perfect upward curving leaves and bright flowers. A few year's later, my friend and his girlfriend took it to a jeweler and it tested as 18KT.

 

It is still there, but you probably have to know where to look. Most regular jeweller's shops on Malta sell 'regular' jewellery, often Italian made.
Filigree is seen more as a traditional craft, so craft centres like Ta' Qali Crafts Village still have filigree makers.
I also heard recently of a very good, not too expensive filigree shop near St Elmo's fort in Valetta. I am sure there are others as well.

 

We went to Malta on holiday years ago before the kids were here and loved it!. Stayed in a hotel right up by the ferry to Gozo where a friend of my mothers lived so she gave us a tour of the island. Fabulous place with so much history, amazing churches and they do like the Brits!. One day I’ll go back.....

 

Great information. I’ll share this with my friend. Hopefully she will be able to go there once things are better.

 

Let’s hope Americans will someday be loved in the same way. My friend’s parents emigrated from Malta. I’ll ask him about the island.

 

Malta is lovely. It feels odd to be on a Med island, very dry and with astonishing architecture, yet red phone boxes and driving on the left. Excellent food and superb local wines, too. And thankfully, they speak English fluently, Maltese is one of those impenetrable languages. The Mdina glass centre is fab.

 

I am sure they are on Malta, even we Dutch are.

I really like the Maltese. The first time I went was on a holiday/business trip. I went with a colleague to organize an exchange of Dutch and Maltese art exhibitions and of course we thought we needed a holiday as well. I loved it so much I went back a few times. It is a tiny country, but I still haven't seen all pre-historic sites.
The Maltese tend to be a bit reserved the first few minutes, but then the smiles appear and they are wonderful. It is really in between Europe and the North African and Arab worlds, with Arab hospitality.

 

Antiquers field trip?
Oh I wish......

 

Unless it’s very hot when they drive in the shade

 

And they stop when a pedestrian even vaguely looks like he wants to cross the road. We had to take care not to stand still near a curb or we'd cause a traffic jam.

 

The buses are superb, too, and cheap.

Love the idea of a field trip.

aj, it's almost as though they're shy to start off - and they're very well mannered.

 

Yes, they are. I really like them. Once you get past those first few minutes, the contact is great. They communicate intelligently, think about what they are going to say, which emphasizes their good manners.
And they make great pastry.

 

And excellent coffee, too. I remember going to a very smart little cafe on the main street, complete with uniformed waiters. We ordered coffee and a small nibble, which arrived with dishes of nuts and heaven knows what. I though it was going to be expensive. It was something utterly stupid like three euro.

I do love Maltese rose wine. Bone dry teroir, high alcohol and a grape which starts with an X.

 

What a wonderful idea. I'm very good at planning and arranging things. Maybe a day's adventure together. I can see us having lunch in the sun drinking wine and eating pastries and wandering slowly through the best places.

 

I'm up for that!

 

@KSW and @Any Jewelry ?

 

Yep, me too. Let the world settle down and I’m up for it.

 

Good deal. I have a couple of major trips planned for this year, but I can work on an itinerary to start.