Featured Victorian bug brooch?

Hi all,
I bought this brooch, inspired by all the lovely sparklies shown by forum members.

I hope it’s Victorian, based on the fly motif and the crescent shape. There are no marks, and I can’t test the metal or stones. I assume it might be gilt silver, with foil-back strass, given the prongs etc are silver colored while the rest looks golden. Some of the more rubbed bits of the rims look a bit silvery, but I don’t want to polish them enough to make sure.

The pin looks like rose gold in real life, the rest like yellow gold/brass.

The pin goes a little beyond the brooch, and the design lets the light go through the brooch so they stones have lots of fiery sparkle, even in low light.

The pearl is rough to tooth, i.e. feels real rather than glassy.

The diameter is only 28 millimeters but it feels substantial in hand.

Any comments would be more than welcome! All I know about antique jewelry is what I’ve just read.

 

Lovely Bzz Bzz
Well made costume jewelry, the triangular flat prongs are a clue for non precious metal.
I'm rather stumped by the white metal color of the edge balls, but as you said the rubbed bits of the rim are silvery color too, I think it is made of gilt white metal. Usually these are rather made of brass, gilded or not.
End of Victorian era or first quarter of 20th century

 

Thank you! Excellent details to know!.

 

Think any grittiness you feel on the pearl is manufacturing defect. One that shape, so symmetrical, produced by a mollusk would be a very expensive gem. Love your little brooch, really delightful. I'm sure kyra is plotting how she can get it to fly away to her.

 

That’s what I thought, too — that a real pearl of that size and shape would’ve been wasted on a costume jewelry brooch. However, I just noticed that the pearl was little loose from its moorings as the hole in it was uneven/worn out on one side. Usually you’d see the top layer of a fake pearl then start chipping away, revealing the glass underneath. It hadn’t, yet.

I really like it. Kyra doesn’t stand chance, though I’m truly grateful for her for sharing her expert knowledge.

 

Afterthought: now that I noticed that the pearl was loose, I am suspecting it is a replacement one—a Chinese freshwater cultured pearl. The freshwater pearls can be made to grow tear drop -shaped and can be bought from e.g. Alibaba for very little money, wholesale.

If it is the original one, it’s been kept very well, since it hasn’t lost its lustre or grown brittle.