Can anybody help me guess at the age of this brooch?

[Irishgrrrl]

I picked this up at an auction recently. A local B&M jeweler was in the process of relocating and auctioned off a bunch of their older stock to avoid the need to move it to the new location. I pretty much bought it for the diamond, and I plan to have the diamond reset into a pendant of some sort. (Probably gonna talk to David Klass about that.) I would then put some sort of gemstone (amethyst or garnet maybe?) into the brooch to take the diamond’s place.

I don’t know much about it, other than the fact that it’s seed pearls and an OMC diamond in 14k yellow gold. The only mark on it is the 14k stamp. I’m guessing mid- to late-1800s? What are your thoughts?

 

[Irishgrrrl]

Here’s a closer pic from the auction listing.

 

[missy]

Hi @Irishgrrrl that is super pretty. I don’t know the age of the brooch but the whole piece is lovely and that OMC is yummy.

 

[Irishgrrrl]

Hi @Irishgrrrl that is super pretty. I don’t know the age of the brooch but the whole piece is lovely and that OMC is yummy.

Thanks, Missy! The OMC is a lil fireball! So glad I won this auction. I was bidding sight unseen because I didn’t make it to the auction preview, so I was cautiously optimistic!

 

[PreRaphaelite]

Many times the pin clasp can give us clues. Any chance of a pic of the reverse?

 

[Irishgrrrl]

Many times the pin clasp can give us clues. Any chance of a pic of the reverse?

Thanks! Here’s the back:

 

[Irishgrrrl]

And another shot of the clasp itself from the end:

 

[stracci2000]

My guess is 1880s-1910s
Its very beautiful!

 

[PreRaphaelite]

Start this video at 2:17

 

[Irishgrrrl]

Thank you stracci2000 and PreRaphaelite!

 

[axelrich]

Lovely..

 

[Joane]

That’s so pretty! Congrats on the win. I think the part with the loop goes on the bottom and was likely meant to attach a watch, in addition to being able to wear it as a brooch alone. The clasp would be right side up with the closed part on top. Your dating seems like a good assumption. Wishing you enjoyment of this lovely find!

 

[JPie]

Lovely brooch! It looks like that hallmark reads "14 K" in which case I would guess it's early 1900s, American. That's roughly when the US started requiring purity marks for gold, and other countries would've marked it as "14C" or "585."