Cherries Brooch - age and materials?

[Better Dresses Vintage]

Hello -- The stamp is 9RK (with the R reversed, like Toys R Us!), so 9K gold. At first I thought the leaves were celluloid, but after some research I think they're amber. What about the cherries? They sound, feel, and "taste" like glass/stone -- heavy, smooth, and they "clink" on your teeth ; ). Some sort of agate?

Didn't think Bakelite, but tested anyway (Simichrome) - negative.

Also, any idea of the vintage? The clasp is the old-fashioned simple sort, as you see.

Thoughts? Thanks!

 

[Better Dresses Vintage]

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[Better Dresses Vintage]

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[Shygarden]

Nice brooch! The cherries could be red amber. Russian maybe?

 

[PersonalPursuits]

Gorgeous brooch! There is one similar to yours at ruby plaza and theirs have the same markings as yours and have the cherries listed as red amber.

 

[joules]

More admiration for the brooch. Really lovely!

 

[Rue_de_la_Paix]

Hi,

I have this same brooch, given to me by my sister about 20 years ago, she bought it new. It was sold to her as Russian amber, from the Ukraine region.

B

 

[Better Dresses Vintage]

Well this is very interesting, indeed, because we have a very large Russian/Ukrainian immigrant population here in Atlanta. It makes total sense that it would be from that region. I also come across all sorts of interesting African, Indian, and other ethnic clothes in my wanderings. Some of it is just fabulous.

I just recently found an adorable day dress with a cyrillic label. I emailed it to my old boss (who just happens to be one of those Russian immigrants), and she translated it and said, "It says it was made at the such-and-such factory. And oh yes, I remember that print, it's from the mid-60s." Funny that the cold-war era choices were so few, you could actually remember all the available fabrics, no?

And yes, I did see the similar brooch on Ruby Lane. Thanks for the head's up.

I will list it as Russian amber, for sure.

Thanks so much.

p.s. anybody want to help me get my logo to be my avatar? It asks for a "URL," but the image isn't at a URL, it's a jpeg on my computer. How do I simply upload a jpeg?

 

[Better Dresses Vintage]

I went back and looked at Ruby Lane, and now I see one that's nearly identical to mine (the one I'd seen previously was slightly different, but also had the identical marking). This one is exactly the same but with 2 cherries instead of 3.

The listing says it's from the 1920s. But Barbara says her identical brooch (bought by her own sister!) is from the 90s. That's quite a wide range!

I dug deeper, and have now found several more, identical pins. All claiming different vintages, and at various price points.

Seems I could call it anything and price it anywhere. Maybe I'll just keep it : ).

 

[poppysvintageclothing]

I sure would keep that one, it really is pretty and those cherries look like you could take a bite out of them!

 

[Rue_de_la_Paix]

Hi,

My sister says she bought it as new, or recently made back in the early 1990s. I do recall seeing quite a bit of Ukrainian amber coming into the USA following the fall of the Communist regime.