Catalog: Estate Jewelry: Silver (46)

This beautiful pair of scarab design cufflinks is marked for Unger Bros, a well-known turn-of-the-century American jewelry maker. Each beetle or scarab is 1/2" by 13/16". They are made of sterling silver. Circa 1900-1905.

In the second half of the nineteenth century, Victorian tastes and habits dominated, with subdued colors, mourning jewelry, and general strictness. The Arts & Crafts Movement reacted to this and gathered strength from a number of world events. Jewelry designers and crafters found inspiration in the Far East and the Victorian interest in mechanization gave them new techniques...

This unusual enameled sterling pendant comes out of the Arts & Crafts movement, roughly 1880-1920 (it can be argued that it still continues!) The enamel colors are associated with the women’s suffrage movement in the UK: green (Give), white (Women the), and violet (Vote) – or at least, that’s the story! The free-standing wire work (so unusual!) interlaces around the body of the piece, and holds an oval of mother-of-pearl in place. Also unusual is the use of some brown enamel...

This lovely sky-blue enameled pendant tests as silver, probably sterling. It has two shades of light blue enamel on the front, highlighted by flourishes in silver. The dropper is also enameled in shaded hues of blue. The enamel continues on the back in sky blue – such wonderful attention to detail! Excluding the bale, it is 1-1/2” long by just under ¾” across...

This elegant pin/pendant consists of an oval of onyx in a sterling frame. The bale tests as 14kt, the pin stem tests as 10k yellow gold In the center are inlaid gold stars, and along the periphery are inlaid flowers, most likely platinum. The frame is decorated with a silver twist, and a floral motif. It measures 1-15/16 x 1-5/8 inches, and weighs 25.9g. Circa 1880. There is some loss to a couple of the flowers, but it’s still a striking piece.

This fascinating reliquary locket depicts a saint, probably St. Peter, holding a key (to the church? Or perhaps to heaven?), with a dove in the background. On the other side is a photograph of an ecclesiastical-looking person. It contains a touched relic (a bit of ribbon which has been touched to a saint’s bone or something worn by a saint); a tiny metal medal with Mary on one side, saying "Mary conceived without sin” and more Christian imagery on the other; and a wisp of cotton...

These beautiful sterling silver cufflinks are marked for Unger Bros and sterling. The flower-patterned ovals are linked by chain and are the epitome of Art Nouveau. One oval, darn it, is a plain replacement. Each oval is 7/8" x 3/4". Circa 1910.

This beautiful unsigned ring has been attributed to Bernard Instone, one of the well-known Arts & Crafts era jewelers, who frequently didn’t sign his pieces. He often used leaves-as-prongs for setting stones, and as was often the way in the A&C movement, he didn’t use costly stones nor gold, so he could keep his prices affordable. This ring is made from sterling silver and set with a blue-green “Swiss lapis” (dyed quartz) which measures approximately 3/4” x 9/16”...

This pretty pin is marked and tested as sterling silver. It features 5 rhinestones, and measures 1-3/4” x 1/2". It weighs 4.4g, and is in excellent condition. We believe it is from the 1970s, but it could be 80s. It would be great for wearing at a historical reenactment event! The photos are part of the description; please examine them carefully. Thanks! Shipping, handling & insurance within the USA included.

This pretty pin features an oval purple cabochon, possibly amethyst, possibly glass (it’s hard to get a reading on this stone), centered between two hammered silver leaves (very A&C in style), all in a very Art Nouveau framework. Marked “DEPOS” (probably meant to be “DEPOSE”, which translates roughly as “patented”), it is probably from Germany. There are two illegible marks, one on the C-clasp, and one on the back. It tests as silver, measures 1-3/4” x 3/4", and weighs 4.4 g...

Here is a coral garland (also referred to as “festoon” or “swag”) necklace, consisting of 8 coral cabuchons of graduated lengths and sizes. The three longest drops are on rigid bars. The coral is a lovely dark ox-blood red. Coral was believed to prevent bad luck, and to be an aid to meditation. The length is 15-1/4” (but it would be easy to get an extender if needed – we can help with that; just ask), and the decorated portion is 4-1/4” x 2-1/8” at the longest point...

This lovely pendant is beautiful, antique, European, and signed by a famous but mysterious maker--can it get any better? The Art Nouveau movement revolutionized art and design in the late 1890s and early 1900s across continents. In Germany, the style was called Jugend Stil—Young Style, and many of the better known jewelry makers congregated in Pforzheim...

This interesting fob is the setting for a sterling coin. It is a Prussian 2 Mark coin. On one side is the face of Friedrich (presumably) and his wife, a Maltese cross, and the words “FRIEDRICH * I * 1701 * WILHELM * II * 1901”; on the other side is an eagle with a crown above, and “DEUTSCHES REICH 1901 ZWEI MARK”. The rest is white metal. The swivel clasp has a mark, which looks like a plow. We haven’t been able to track it down...

Here is an interesting portrait in silver, of a wind-swept young person clad in a cloak and hood. It’s very detailed and just lovely. We think it’s a boy (very unusual in jewelry), as the hair seems to be quite short under the hood. The hood itself looks like a cap made from a flower, as seen on fairies in Victorian children’s books. It measures 1-1/8” wide, is hollow, and is marked “STERLING TOP GERMAN SILVER BACK”. The sterling front is in very good condition...

This beautiful pendant is straight out of the Arts & Crafts movement; it’s very much in the style of Horner, but it’s unsigned. It is enameled in an intense blue with areas of a much lighter blue. The dropper shades from a pale green through a lighter blue into an intense blue, echoing the color of the main part of the pendant. The back is marked “sterling silver”, and the dropper is marked “silver”. It measures 1-3/8 x 1-3/16, and is on a modern 18” sterling chain. In very good co...

This is one of our very favorite pieces: a striking Jugendstil (Germany and Austria’s Arts & Crafts) pendant which is enameled in white and purple. It is made from 900 silver (a bit less fine than sterling), and centered by a lovely oval amethyst which is flanked above and below by tiny seed pearls. There is a pearl dangle (which we added, as the original was missing) below an arc of milgrained metal. It measures 1-1/2” x 7/8” and weighs 4.7g. In overall excellent condition; there is an ar...

This serene lady is shown with lotuses or water lilies in her hair. (The lotus, a variety of water lily, has symbolized purity, enlightenment, and resurrection.) This lady is remarkably similar to a piece made by the Unger Bros., but marked only STERLING – and the stamp is reversed! We believe her to be a copy, but still made around 1900 – this seemed to have happened fairly frequently back in the “olden days.” She has the patina of age, a pin stem assembly which is correct for the turn ...

Natural Bohemian garnets are featured in this antique pin. Two round elements are made up of three tiers of rich red rose-cut garnets. Each garnet circle is surrounded by a row of tiny rose-cut garnets. Suspended from these elements are three droppers featuring more garnets, round and marquise in shape. These droppers add eye-catching motion to the piece when it is worn. All of the gems are beautifully prong set. The pin is unmarked but is silver and is 1 ¼” wide. It has the original tub...