Although we found this antique piece a few weeks ago, we thought it would give us a chance to talk a little about Victorian black jewelry.
Click on the image for a full description or to purchase!
Victorian Jet Pin
Black jewelry was mostly made out of bog oak,
vulcanite, gutta-percha, crepe stone, pressed horn and jet.
Although we love all jewelry from this
period, it is becoming increasingly difficult to buy due to blatant and inadvertent misrepresentations.
Once, at an auction we purchased a vulcanite pin that was represented as bog oak. We knew what we were purchasing; however, the dealer insisted it was bog oak! NOT!!! Don't get me started about the listings on eBay where almost every piece of jewelry with black beads is listed
as jet!
How did we know the pin was not Bog Oak? Well, first there was no graining. Because Bog Oak is fossilized wood, graining is often present. When tested later with the dreaded hot pin, we smelled rubber. This alone rules out Bog Oak!
All other tests on the piece also pointed to Vulcanite.
The Victorian periods spanned decades and each as you might expect, had its own "style". The period began with the coronation of Victoria as Queen of England in 1837. Some say that it really began prior to her birth, in 1819 at Kensington Palace. I don't think many dispute that it ended when she passed away in 1901.
Queen Victoria was married to Prince
Albert in February of 1840. It is said that they were deeply in love. The Queen also loved
jewelry. When her beloved Prince died she went into a long period of mourning and she began to wear black jewelry.
The folks always looked to the Queen for fashion direction so when she started to wear black jewelry, they did as well.
Although black and dark jewelry from this time
period has become to be known as mourning jewelry, some of it was worn for fashion. There were also sentimental items meant for storing keepsakes. Other sentimental items such as
hair jewelry were also popular.
Below are some additional examples of Black Jewelry from the Victorian Era.
Click on the image for a full description or to purchase!
Vulcanite Pin
Crepe StoneCufflinks
Pressed Horn Pin
Bog Oak Pin
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