Posted 5 years ago
Rikuson
(9 items)
I'm afraid I don't know anything about jewellery, I just wanted to own something REALLY old!
The seller of this brooch told me they found it whilst metal detecting in County Antrim, N. Ireland. They dated it to the 17th or 18th century! (Please feel free to disagree with them; I'm always happy to learn more.)
The first photo is the condition I received it in, and the second photo is after it was professionally cleaned.
I often wonder about the brooch's original owner, and how sad she must have been to lose something so beautiful.
Hi Ms.CrystalShip!
I've uploaded a photo of the back for you. I hope it's what they said it was. I love how excited you are about it!
The jeweller pulled me aside when I went to pick it up, and whispered "This is VERY old." It was like he didn't want anyone else in the shop to know. It was very weird!
Thank you so much for the information! I was wondering about the hinge myself. It didn't look... crude(?) enough. So, whilst the front might be old, it was still in someone's possession in the 1930s? This is very exciting!
Looking at it out in the sun, the hinge and catch are a more silvery colour than gold, too. Argh! It's sad they've been added later, but it does mean it was precious enough to repair.
No, sadly the jeweller didn't tell me much about it at all. Only that it was very old and because of that, he didn't polish it to a bright shine, because he was scared of damaging the details.
Thank you so much for all of your help! I really, really appreciate it!
It's a very nice Brooch Rikuson, I think it could have been a Pendant, but my concern is the way the stones are set, like costume Jewelry of the 20th Century. Are the fittings part of the piece, or soldered in place? Just things that might help in finding out about your Brooch! :^D Thanks for posting! :^)
Thanks so much, Ms.CrystalShip! ^_^ I hope that we can find out more about its origins. I'm sad it's not as old as the seller said, but now, it's a different kind of interesting!
Thanks so much for the information, billretirecoll! I've just had a close look at the stone settings (I'm sorry if I use funny words for the parts), and the little clawed cups that the stones sit in seem to be separate pieces to the backing.
I had a look around its outer edge as well, and couldn't find any marks where a necklace loop might have been attached. But that is really exciting if it has been converted into a brooch sometime in its past.
Thanks again!