Victorian brooch/pendant? Help in writing description

[minsatisstuff]

Hello everyone!  This piece tests at 10k. Is it missing a "cover/lid"? I would consider it as being scallop shaped. Is there a better descriptive for this particular item. I cannot find any marks so i am leary of listing it as 10k. Your thoughts please...

[minsatisstuff]

I did give it a little cleaning but left some of the "gunk".

[oldasdirt2012]

Hi, some jewelry dealers call the work filagree others call it open work. The old C clasp is known to be on these type of broachs . However they are also a replacement if the original cover clasp breaks off. Cant tell by the camera angle. I think you are getting a false positve on your gold testing. When I test gold the first thing I do is rub a magnet over the piece, if the magnet doesnt pick up the jewelry some clasps on pins and necklaces will pick up by the magnet because the old pure metal clasps had a short shelf life because the metal was so soft. Then I do the scratch test with the rock and acid. If the color doesnt disappear then I make a tiny scratch in to the metal. If the acid sizzles green its junk metal. If it sizzles white it is silver, If it is clear and doesnt move at all thats gold. You may already know some of the testing methods for gold so if there is any thing you can use in my rather long response....cool.

[the.radish]

Filigree was popular in the 20's and 30's.  It could be a fur clip???  It is a gorgeous piece whatever it turns out to be.  White gold was also popular then.

[minsatisstuff]

My best guess was victorian. I was going mainly by the clasp to date it and it just "speaks" victorian to me ( call me the jewelry whisperer 😉   )  Seriously, help in dating this would be  appreciated too. Thank all of you for your help!!!

[delilah3532]

Hello

I am by no means an expert but this  item looks like it is filigree . They are made in mediterranean countries to this date and in this case i dont think the clasp is an indication its victorian unless there is any hallmarking to allude to that. I have few brooches and pendants some are not even marked as silver. Usually gold pieces of this type are in 18K and they are marked as such.

Below i attach two similar brooches of mine, there is quite a variety on filigree designed jewelry.

[minsatisstuff]

Now I am confused. Is my brooch filigree, open work or spun.

[elvyyu]

In my fallible opinion:

Spun silver is silver wrapped around a thread; so, this is unlikely to be spun silver; spun silver is erroneously thought to be like spun glass, which has no thread.

Open work is anything that has holes in it, usually in a regular pattern;   the holes could be cut into the material aftrer it is made or formed while it is being  made;  so, you could consider filigree to be one type of open work, but not all types of open work are filigree;  for instance, cutwork fabric is not filigree and eyelet is not filigree, even though they both have holes;  filigree is best confined to describing something made of one or more threads, which have left open spaces between the thread(s).

I think your best descriptor is 'filligree'.

[oldasdirt2012]

If you get a chance, search deco 14kt white gold  filigree bracelet or ring. Some very good close ups of filigree.

Or use all three descriptions in your title. It all depends on what the customer thinks they are looking for.