Bizarre Antique Jewellery from My Personal Collection & Museums

Thanks so much to Skillshare for sponsoring this video!

In this video, we explore some weird (and wonderful) antique jewelry! Historical fashion constantly surprises me, and even though I've covered bizarre Victorian fashion in the past, I felt that this weird antique jewellery deserved its own designated video. A lot of the items are from my personal antique jewellery collection, while others are specimens I've found on museum websites. I hope you enjoy looking at these beautiful treasures that pair oh so nicely with historical clothing.

Sources:
Acrostic ring:

Hair and metal jewellery:

Hair brooches:

Choker necklace:

Georgian choker necklace:

Lover’s eye:

Basket earrings:

Amber with artifacts:

Uranium glassware:

Bug jewellery:
Ugly-pretty Victorian things:

#Skillshare #AntiqueJewellery #HistoricalFashion

[VBirchwood]

Thank you so much to Skillshare for sponsoring this video! What was your favourite piece in the video?

[wendymalik]

When my mother passed we took a large amount of hair she cut off a couple years prior. My eldest daughter braided it into a wreath and we placed it in a small shadow box. She added a bow and a small yellow butterfly. Her favorite color was yellow and she resonated with butterflies. So it is a nice representation & reminder of her. It has in my studio.

[riggs]

I love that you incorporate jewelry that has a Victorian feel but may not necessarily be from that era. It makes your collection feel like something you’ve curated with love and not something for an academic collection. I think it also encourages people who may not have money for genuine antiques to experiment with affordable vintage, repro, and modern jewelry.

[Noel.Chmielowiec]

I have few rings from my great-grandma and her favourite brooches. Rings were made in the 30s, I think the brooches too, from what I remember she inherited them from her mum. I love them, they are colourful and add to every outfit. They are not gold or silver, but still in incredible condition after all this years. The jewellery in those times was way higher quality than today.

[xXJoeyXxcoooool]

1:51 my aunt used to work at a museum, apparently they had a big collection of hair jewelry, but it had a ton of lead and stuff in it :/

[ewhitmo]

My grandparents had an identical set of corner shelves to the ones behind you. They called it the "Whatnot" bc it was used to display little decorative collectibles and whatnot ;)

[sweetlorikeet]

The hazelnut brooch is super cute, I absolutely love it!

[vincentbriggs]

That buckle ring is so cute, I'd never heard of those before! And I'm envious of your pearl fly, it's magnificent!

I've seen at least two historical watches and one cravat pin that are shaped like skulls, and The Met has a lot of late 18th century watch chains, but one of my favourites has little green jewels dangling from it, along with a tiny metal axe, and a tiny skull with a dish on top.
There are also some gorgeous 18th century rings with little pictures of ships in them.

[antikathy]

Ok. Thank you because you sent me down several rabbit holes. This was fun.
A pointing hand is protection, and your flowers look like forget-me-nots, which were a common symbol of affection and friendship. A beetle is longevity, and a fly is humility. Ironically, insect jewellery was a symbol of wealth, although you are quite correct that jewellery was suddenly available to more of the masses. I found a wild, in-depth article about the multi-layered symbolism of cameos. Thanks for this. Can't wait for the fashion one. Keep 'em coming, lol

[pmclaughlin]

If you want to try hair jewelry, check out decorative knotting. Same sort of technique.
Also wondering about mourning motifs used in jewelry and as funerary symbolism (tombstones)

[wanderingspark]

I love insect jewelry. My mother had a vintage bee pin with a purple stone for the body, very similar to your beetle pin.

[patim]

I'm not wearing jewellery that much (just my ear piercings and my nose ring but that isnt jewelery for me) but i absolutly love studying the little details and enjoying it being worn on other people (THAT hazelnut brooch made me scream because it is so adorable!). Great Video (as always)! <3

[christiantorrens]

I love antique, vintage and modern jewelry and jewelry in general so much is fancy and glamorous and a social status symbol

[RianShafer]

I think "Mother's rings" might be a more modern version of that ring. They tend to be spendy, mine has natural marque' shaped stones. I have several cool chokers from the 60s, hopefully I will find someone who wants them because I don't wear them or the ring. Loved this video! It's fun to see what people wore in the past.

[SarastistheSerpent]

I love the hand broaches! They remind me of the ones worn by the hand of the king in Game of Thrones

[atelierofwitchhat]

this was so cool!! thank you so much for sharing this!! i especially love the pearl grapes and the bug jewelery <3

[SimpleDesertRose]

I love what you did with your hair. It's so super cute. You definitely have some fun pieces in your collection. I feel like i've seen the pink and cobalt blue cameo brooch before. I'm not one for much jewelry, but I do enjoy having some cute stuff when I go places. I hope you get your grape earrings. They sound like fun. See you in 3 weeks 💕

[isabellaferretti]

Fun video Vasi, enjoyed it very much. I love the chunkiness of the cameo brooch, and think the cobalt blue and pink, with the gold, would look lovely on a pale summer dress, such as buttermilk, lavender or cream. Can’t choose a favourite piece, they are all adorable!

[JoelleFromParis]

For some reason, I missed this video when it first came out but I am happy it came up in the YT suggestions. I learned so much once again! I love the beaded edwardian earrings you made, they turned out beautiful.

[brainmachine]

One of my theses at university was on the semiology of hair. To that end the McCord Museum in Montreal opened their collection of Victorian hair jewelry to me. Just FYI after a number of years it smells like ginger and its consistency is almost like that of a rubber band.