Brooches

Une Femme has put out a call for the showing of the brooches. Oddly enough, I have been wearing a few brooches lately and it seemed fitting that I should comply.

 

I don't have many vintage brooches.  This one is an exception in many ways, not in the least of which is that it was given to me by G over a decade ago, and it is not the kind of strongly modern piece that usually attracted his attention. I have also worn it rather regularly since he gave it to me even though I went through a long period where I otherwise did not wear brooches.

When I was in my 20's I was enthralled by brooches and pins of all sorts.  I wore them all the time, on jackets, on belts, on my collars and my cuffs.  Mostly they were cheap things; they often broke.  Few of them remain in my collection.  Later, I drifted away from brooch wearing although I never quite gave up on them. 

 

The coral and gold cameo is the only brooch that I packed in the immediately accessible "will wear" box when we moved.  Everything else went into a vault, where it still languishes, or carefully wrapped up in a box to be sorted through later.  Most of the contents of that box remained under wraps until lately when I have begun fishing out a few things.  It seems I made a few major miscalculations as to which pieces I would want to wear, and as soon as I finish a few other projects that I have been obsessing over lately, I will turn my attentions to sorting through the jewelry box  as somewhere hidden in that box is a tiny silver Llama pin from South America that my grandparents gave me when I was quite young, and which I have been longing to wear again.

 

While I was searching for that llama, I happend across this much larger (and therefore more easily found) silver pin which I have since been wearing a great deal. I am not, for the most part, attracted to really geometric pins but I find this one fascinating because all the little square pieces in the center move around so you can rearrange their alignment.  If you click on the photo to bring up the enlarged version you might see the single open space in the upper left hand corner (with a bit of scarf peeking through) and that the pieces are not fixed together.  

 

The last piece I want to share is the only piece that remains from my 20's. I haven't really worn it much in recent years and yet I can't bring myself to let it go either.  It was the first piece of "real" jewelry I ever purchased for myself and it continues to have strong sentimental value.  The last few times I wore it, in fact, I wore it as a pendant on a fine gold chain, layered with another necklace under a simple shirt.  I haven't given up on it as a brooch, just expanded the options.

Comments

[déjà pseu]

I love your eclectic choices, Mardel! Thanks so much for linking up, and sharing these brooches.

[RoseAG]

Cameos aren't my favorites, but I really like the coral/gold one. It's something about the colors.

The square one reminds me of a party favor where you'd shuffle the letters around to make a word.

I hope you get to your packed away box soon, I've got a feeling it's got pretty good stuff in it.

[materfamilias]

What beautiful cameos! I love both, and they're great examples of the range within the genre. Spectacular, evocative detail in that last one -- really invites and rewards a closer look.

[Duchesse]

Your coral cameo is mesmerizing, finest I have seen. The traditional shell piece is a beautiful example too, and I hope you wear her again (or find someone who will.) I also encourage you to deal with the vault :)

[Andrea Peterson]

Mardel, I just love your hair these days! It is adorable and very very flattering. I'm feeling too old myself to have long hair (actually shoulder length) but I've never really enjoyed short hair. However, your new haircut is giving me second thoughts about this. Andrea