Traditional Scottish Style Modern Jewellery Examples.

I have seen the following pieces been described as vintage, whilst very beautiful and desirable pieces they are not vintage. Both brooches are formed in a traditional Scottish style from polished pewter with a palladium coating.

 The palladium plating applied to the finished brooches makes them less likely to tarnish over time.  This brooch is formed in the traditional Scottish design of a Luckenbooth.  This one is formed from two hearts making it ideal to exchange between lovers.









Both brooch examples are made by Art Pewter Silver Ltd.  The above Luckenbooth brooch is signed DB Scotland to the back. However, not all their pieces are signed.  The company itself was established in 1968 by Hamish Dawson-Bowman so some designs that you will come across will indeed be vintage.

 This is an unsigned piece by Art Pewter Silver Ltd, it is known as the Machair thistle brooch.  It's design is inspired by the rare Machair habitats found in Scotland where wild thistles and heather grow.









The brooches themselves are high quality, the Machair thistle brooch is set with amethyst tinted crystal rhinestones.
All jewellery by Art Pewter Silver Ltd is produced by craftsmen in Scotland so they are great buys if you wish for some traditional styled high quality authentic Scottish Jewellery.
 Don't forget to check out the wide range of Scottish themed jewellery available in the Scottish And Celtic Jewellery section of our shop.

Halloween Jewellery Treats.

Our favourite holiday of the year, Halloween is on its way so ' treat ' yourself to a some spooky bling and check out some of the superstitions and beliefs of these Halloween symbols.

 These black cat and crescent moon earrings are formed from cloisonne enamel and are also available in red.







Whilst in America and parts of Europe black cats are believed to be unlucky,  in the UK the opposite applies,  black cats are believed to be lucky and one appearing at your doorstop was a sign of impending prosperity. Whilst in Japan black cats are associated with being lucky in love. ( Note to self buy 10 black cats ).

 




This antique Victorian brooch, is hand carved from a piece of Whitby Jet, an unusual antique spooky talking point.








In the Victorian era mourning jewellery was often worn to mark the passing of a loved one, popularized by queen Victoria after the death of her beloved Albert, Jet became the only accepted court jewellery.  Some of the mourning style pieces have concealed sections contains a lock of the departed's  hair.

This spider web ring complete with dangling spider would make a quirky and fun accessory to a Halloween outfit. 













Nowadays spiders get a pretty unfair deal when it comes to Halloween, being seen as some sort of spooky witches helper.  In medieval times if you saw a spider on Halloween it was actually believed to be the soul of a loved  one watching over you, prior to this they were believed to be fore tellers of prosperity and it was bad luck to kill one.

This wide chunky skull and cross bone bangle would make a great addition to any pirates haul of treasure. 










The skull and cross bone symbol whilst perhaps most commonly associated with pirates, dates back to the late middle ages as a symbol of death. It's still commonly used today as a hazard symbol often used to denote poisonous chemicals.

Thanks for reading through and wishing you all a spooktacular Halloween.

Moody Blues Are In!

One of the colours creating a stir on catwalks for the Autumn/Fall 2017 season is blue, or rather moody blue. So cast out from your mind nautical, seaside and neon shades of blue and think more along the lines of Midnight, Cobalt and Oxford shades of blue.
A great way to be on trend yet still set your own is to combine vintage and modern to create your own unique look. We have included a few of our favourite pieces from our website in the hopes of inspiring you.

This stunning vintage chunky sterling silver and lapis lazuli gemstone bracelet, combines shades of blue silver and gold creating a bold look. 








The deep blue hues that the gem stone Lapiz lazuli is formed from has been prized for thousands of years, it was once powdered to form the most expensive paint pigment ultramarine.

Although not vintage this 14ct gold and cobalt blue foiled glass necklace, combines one of the other ongoing trends, pearls! The mixture of the pearls and cobalt blue glass helps soften the overall look of the necklace.






Pearls are always a great addition to any jewellery box, classic and timeless they are easily incorporated with any outfitted. They never really go out of fashion.

This retro bracelet is formed from enamel bonded to copper in a crazy/fun flower design dating from the 1960's -  70's.

This vintage, enamel, flower bracelet mixes moody blues with lighter blue shades, forming a vibrant fun bracelet oozing classic retro vibes.

Cloisonne enamel makes up the design of  this lovely brooch, dating from the 1980's.

Another enamel piece but this one is cloisonne enamel forming a large, eye catching vintage butterfly and flower raised design brooch.

We hope we've managed to inspire a few ideas, if moody blues aren't quite for you as you love blue in all of its shades then check out our blue jewellery pinterest page dedicated to blue jewellery of any shade Blue jewellery