“Jewellery is a very personal thing… it should tell a story about the person who’s wearing it.” – Garance Doré (French photographer, illustrator, author and fashion blogger).
Most of us are attracted to certain pieces of jewellery because of their aesthetic, and I am no different, however sometimes the jewellery has additional appeal because of its historical context or family connection, or sometimes the piece holds a secret quirk. In this photograph we have a homemade lucky silver sixpence brooch made up with a George VI sixpence and two thruppences from 1943. Whilst I don’t know the origins of this brooch, other than it came from a car boot sale in the late 1980s, I do know that a silver sixpence represents luck and prosperity in marriage. It was not uncommon for a bride during the Great Depression or the Second World War, when jewellery was a scarce luxury, to wear a lucky silver sixpence brooch made from coins of the day. I could imagine a war bride wearing this brooch and wishing for good luck, perhaps not only in her marriage, but in life as she and her new husband navigated the perils of a world at war. The second piece is an eighteen-carat yellow gold Victorian mourning brooch. Delicate and ornate, it has a central cartouche featuring a single small diamond. Besides its pleasing aesthetic, what is interesting about this brooch is that the central cartouche may be lifted and removed, revealing a small compartment where a small lock of a loved one’s hair may be kept: a secret known only to the wearer.
The theme for "Looking Close on Friday" on the 24th of November is "gold and silver (colour)", and what better way to create an image for the this theme than with two pieces of jewellery: a gold Victorian mourning brooch and a lucky silver sixpence brooch. I hope you like my choice for the theme and that it makes you smile!