Looking for information on an antique rooster pin

M

mlpimsler

Registered Guest
Hello everyone-

I inherited this antique rooster pin (https://imgur.com/a/MVX9gTp). I took it to an appraiser who said that the diamond and sapphires are all natural, and most of the rubies are as well. The metal is sterling silver. Unfortunately, a past owner replaced the pin fastener on the back and there aren't any makers marks or other information anymore on the piece. He suggested that I crowd-source anyone's insight into this piece.

Thank you for your time and attention, and if you have any questions, please ask.

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We have some wonderful jewelry folks here on the VFG who should come along to help. It looks more like a fur clip than a brooch. It would be very unusual to have natural rubies and sapphires, as well as diamonds, set in sterling silver. I suggest you get a second opinion on that. Natural or "dug from the earth" (as opposed to real but lab made/grown) sapphires and rubies are not as common, are very valuable and would be set in gold or platinum.

Are those inches or centimeters on your ruler? Is it as large as it appears?
 
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Rue_de_la_Paix said:
We have some wonderful jewelry folks here on the VFG who should come along to help. It looks more like a fur clip than a brooch. It would be very unusual to have natural rubies and sapphires, as well as diamonds, set in sterling silver. I suggest you get a second opinion on that. Natural or "dug" (as opposed to real but lab made) sapphires and rubies are not as common, are very valuable and would be set in gold or platinum.

Are those inches or centimeters on your ruler? Is it as large as it appears?
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Hello Barbara-

I can get a second opinion about the metal, sure.

They are centimeters on the ruler. It is indeed as large as it appears.
 
I was referring to a second opinion on the gems. Is the brooch marked sterling, or did the jeweler test it for silver content? Are gems prong set, as it does not appear that way in the photos.

It is attractive, although the workmanship is more than a little rough for a piece of fine jewelry.

If the gems can be determined to be earth dug (natural) gems, then having it set in sterling silver would be even more odd, but as a long shot it could be some sort of one-off or ethnic piece.
 
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Oh! Yes, the gems were checked by both a jeweler and a gemologist in the area; the gem identification is correct. My grandmother was from Latvia and I think that this is a piece of jewelry "from the old country". Both also tested the metal content and said that it was sterling silver; there weren't any marks of any kind on it.

The gemologist also commented on how roughly cut the stones were.

And no, the gems don't seem to be prong set.
 
It would be helpful if you could take a photo in more natural light on a white or light background so that the color of the stones and the metal are more true to their actual color. That said, I think that this is a piece from the late 1930s or 1940s in the "Retro" style that was popular then. It could have been a fur clip or a dress clip or brooch - but since the original closure is missing we won't know for sure. It's a great piece and it's wonderful that it belonged to your grandmother.
 
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