Saturday, 21 November 2020

Halloween jewellery

Halloween jewellery fun to wear with a Halloween costume
What sort of jewellery did you wear this Halloween? Well you can go for the dark and mysterious stylish Gothic or the fun Gothic Halloween jewellery that is available at this time of year. With bat, skull, witch, snake, spider and vampire inspired pieces there is something for everyone.
Alternate pumpkin brooch by Gothic White Witch

This alternative felt brooch has a cheerful wooden pumpkin look. Great to dress up a lapel or bag. This is fun Halloween jewellery to brighten up those dull Autumn days.
The mysterious Gothic Halloween jewellery style can be achieved simply by using a black or navy coloured brooch, bracelet, necklace or earrings. Add a little Gothic and you are suitably dressed.
Conjoined twin necklace cameo

This conjoined twin cameo necklace adds a little macabre detail to a Halloween costume. Produced by Gothic White Witch.   Vampire neck choker in plastic
Cheap and cheerful gross neck choker to imitate a cut throat. Adds a bloody touch to a black outfit. 
Black skeleton earrings by Claires
Long dangling skeleton earrings in black from Claire's Accessories. 
Single large spider earring
Large single spider earring for pierced ears. Black with silver markings. Another Halloween favourite ear wear,
Green witch ring in plastic
Novelty witch ring in plastic. These rings were on the top of cupcakes from Greggs the bakers.
Spider web earrings in black by Claire's
Claire's fashion jewellery usually produce fun Halloween pieces to wear. This dangling pair of spider web earrings for pierced ears are just right for a Halloween party. 
Hematite skull pendant necklace for a cool look
Love the skull necklace look? Then wear this Hematite cool piece. Yes cool in looks and also in the fact that Hematite is quite cold against your skin.
Sugar skull pendant necklace in silver
Another skull necklace. this one is large and as pre-owned of unknown original manufacturer. In the sugar skull style favoured by the Mexican tradition. Used in Day of the Dead or in All Souls Day celebrations
Pumpkin hair accessories for Halloween
Pumpkin hair accessories with resin pumpkins of a hair band and hair slides.
Large black spider web earrings by Claire's Accessories
A larger pair of Halloween earrings with spiders and spider web designs by Claires. 
Mixed media spider star felt brooch by Gothic White Witch
Gothic White witch produced an alternative spider onto a felt brooch.
Large black spider web necklace by Claire's Accessories
A large spider web necklace in blackened metal. Produced by Claire's jewellery in the UK.
Green witch hair accessories for Halloween

A green faced witch hair accessories on their original card. Witch hair slides and matching hair bands.
Alchemy Gothic bat necklace 2005 in pewter
Superb bat necklace in pewter by Alchemy Gothic. This Gothic necklace was produced in 2005. Bats are designed in links with a single blood red tear drop - just right for Halloween or to wear at any other Gothic moment.
Black spider brooch with diamante
Wearing a black spider brooch will lift any outfit to a Gothic or Halloween look. Love this spider as he is covered in black diamante. 
Cat on broom witch brooch by Avon
Avon produced this superb cat on a broom brooch a few years ago now. Unsigned but still can be found at car boot sales and online. Wore a witch brooch once for Halloween and I was asked if I was a witch!
Furry felt spider brooch - kitsch Halloween fun
This is a brilliant brooch. It was cheap and found in the Halloween section of a pound shop. It still lights up after several years. 
Red spider necklace by Claire's

And lastly a beautiful red diamante covered spider web necklace by Claire's - A must accessory for Halloween wear.
 See our other posts about witch jewellery and Gothic jewellery in general 

Updated February 2022.

Updating silver plated pewter jewellery blog about Silver Scenes or MASJ

Updating blog post about MASJ jewellery.

 We have now updated the blog post about the jewellery that is mostly silver plated onto pewter. Produced by Silver Scenes and also designed by MASJ. in the 1990s. Later jewellery produced by the company after they took over from MASJ is stamped Silver Scenes. So we have added more photographs of the pieces we have found on our travels. Including brooches and a jewellery set. 

So take a look at MASJ jewellery Silver Scenes of Wales.  

dahlia brooch by masj

Dahlia flower depicted on this pretty brooch by MASJ. No date on this one.

Saturday, 7 November 2020

bone jewellery

Bone jewellery.

Love it or hate it? Bone jewellery has been around for a very long time and is still used extensively for material in jewellery today, even with the rise of the Vegan way of thinking. Bone is not only tactile, but a cheap component in jewellery to use. Once hand carved but now machine manufactured. It will be around for years to come. Now suitable to collect the many different bone jewellery pieces still available. It is relatively cheaper to create a collection. Although older antique jewellery is becoming more difficult to find. 
antique Scottish thistle bone brooch

Antique Scottish bone brooch of a thistle – hand carved.
Bone thistle brooch - Victorian

The history of bone jewellery.
One of the earliest materials used by our ancestors was bone to make jewellery. After picking the bones dry, they used Ibex, horse. Carved bone jewellery was used to adoring themselves. Maybe to draw the animals to them when hunting – as obtaining food was a must to survive. No nipping to the local shop to buy groceries then. Or jewellery and clothing accessories were used in ritualistic practices or just for plain fashion of the times!. No one really knows for sure. Certainly, a bone was used in holding clothes together like buttons, clasps and buckles. But it was also fastened into beads and brooches that had no function other than to look good.

It seems to have been also used as a memorial to dead ancestors. Human bone beads were used in certain religion’s prayer beads. Ancient people would have their relatives or loved one’s bones or teeth fashioned into a necklace or headdress. A way to keep their memory alive or to give them that deceased person’s knowledge? Not something we would consider today – or is it. Jewellery can still be made with your loved one’s ashes turned into diamonds or a locket/holder that can contain a small amount of the cremated remains of your husband/wife/mother/father/child, etc.

Bone was used for jewellery making in certain cultures and in certain decades. Ethnic, Egyptian and North American jewellery often used bone. The Victorian era has many examples. Used to make Scottish bone jewellery and also harvest inspired pieces for good luck. Bone enjoyed a brief revival in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Chunky often tribal pieces were produced and imported into the UK. Today, bone is once again out of fashion with the move to vegan products. 
Bone rose brooch by Exquisite

Vintage rose brooch by Exquisite – the rose is carved bone circa the 1960s.
Harvest festival corn sheaf brooch - antique
Harvest festival corn sheaf brooch - antique from Victorian era.

Bone jewellery from the past to now....

Animal bone in jewellery has never really gone out fashion. Nowadays it is dyed and shaped so that you can not tell what it is. A bone of course is used extensively now in our everyday life, as it was our ancestors. The following pieces of jewellery of bone and other materials are some that have been sourced in our travels and from many sources.
Bone and wood chunk bangle - modern

Bone and wood chunky bangle - modern in white, and two colours of brown wood (light and dark) Set into a brass bangle frame.
Yellow and black bone tribal necklace

Black and yellow magnificent multi layered necklace. Bone and wood combination to give this tribal style. Modern necklace from the early 2000s.
Gold and black bone necklace modern

Gold and black bone V shaped necklace modern
Gold and black polished bone necklace. V shaped and quite chunky design circa 1990s.

Antique style bone bangle chunky
An antique style bone bangle (modern from the early 2000s). Brass and off white bone have been segmented together to create this chunky piece.
Contemporary style bone bangle chunky
Another chunky bone bangle. Again segments of white and black bone with brass giving a modern contemporary style. From the early 2000s. 
Horn antique brooch

Antler horn antique brooch
Not strictly bone but horn - popular in Victorian jewellery. Here is a horn shaped brooch and below a thistle in silver metal fixed to a piece of antler horn. Both antique pieces.
Horn and thistle antique brooch

Antique leaf brooch of horn carved
A carved leaf brooch - antique now and mellowed to this yellow colouring.
Statement red bone necklace

Chunky wood bone red necklace
A big and chunky red bone necklace. Wood beads with polished spine bone shaped beads. Asymmetrical and again a more modern necklace from the early 2000s.
Wood bone natural necklace

Another large focal bone and wood necklace. This in neutral colours of brown both light and dark. Here the rectangular shaped bone is fixed onto polished wood. Modern from the early 2000s.
Faux bone pendant necklace of plastic

The above floral bead necklace looks like bone carved but is in fact made of plastic! Sometimes it can be difficult to see what the material is actually. This has been made to imitate carved bone, but made cheaply and probably mass produced. As usual, we will add to this blog post photographs of the bone jewellery we still sourced. So please bookmark and come back again..

About Me

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Solihull, West Midlands, United Kingdom
I preserve the past. Researching family and local history. Finding about mine and other people's ancestors, is just one of my passions. I also love vintage costume jewellery made here in the UK. I write about my finds and like to research.