Age of cross?

I don't know jewellery but this strikes me as something old -- any insight? I have no history on it - can't even remember where or when I got it.

 

Here are some better pictures of the piece after cleaning (and it's 1 1/2 inches tall not including the gold loop.) It appears to be silver plate, which surprised me because that isn't visible to the naked eye, it's only when I photographed and blew it up that I saw the brass under the silver on the back. There are prongs, they are just VERY tiny...:

 

Yes, there is a split, but its very tight. Gold wash over sterling makes more sense than silver plate over brass.

 

I love that. The stones appear to me to possibly be rock crystals, which would place this earlier, maybe 19th century. Just a guess on my part.

 

It looks like vermeil and European. Possibly French? 1918--1920s?

 

Thanks - that is disappointing, I was hoping it was 19th century - maybe even 18th century... oh well!

 

If those are indeed rock crystals, and not glass or rhinestones, then I still think there is a good chance this is 19th century. While I am far from a jewelry expert, they look a lot like the type of hand cut rock crystal stones I find in Victorian hat jewelry and hat adornments. Anything made after the 1890s I never see them (in hat jewels) , but again, who knows? Also, a lot of 18th century crystals had tiny black dots (added by the maker to add depth) on the back, but not all.

I am still leaning to it being older. And the shape reminds me of mid Victorian Scottish inspired jewelry, with that hatchet shape to the cross.

 

Jonathan, have you tried to test the stones to see what they are?

 

One reason that I asked if the stones had been tested would be to determine if they are rock crystal or paste or something else. Sometimes in very old pieces white sapphires were used and I wondered if these could be genuine gems. The cross that is for sale is surely a twin for Jonathan's cross. The seller states an interesting description of the metal as "bronze base metal with a silvery patina". I would lean more to vermeil for Jonathan's cross. Hard to tell without actually seeing it, though. I don't see any signs of verdigris from the photos. And, if it's brass base metal, it may have a smell that could be detected if held in one's hand. If it is a not genuine silver, I would think it would most likely be brass with a silver overlay instead of bronze. I see lots of descriptions of items online, but they are not always accurate. I would love to see what Frances has to say about this cross. He is very knowledgeable about older pieces and Jonathan's appears to be an older piece. It does look European and the one Linn found for sale is in Britain which is not too far from France. It still looks like it could be a French piece to me. But again, this sort of jewelry is not my forte. I sure hope someone can solve the mystery. And, one more thing that could offer insight into the age of the piece.....how are the stones faceted? If the facets are very uniform, it would indicate that they are not done by hand. The stones on Jonathan's cross look to me from the photos to be an older style of faceting and a little less uniform. Another clue, perhaps?