Exquisite leaf jewellery

Exquisite loved leaf jewellery. 

In their long history, they produced so many different versions of their jewellery leaves in large and small leaf brooches and earrings. This jewellery blog has some original information leaflets. We are also photographing and showing all the leaf jewellery for your pleasure and ongoing research.

The Exquisite company produced leaves in Vine, Beech, Horse Chestnut, Elm, Ivy, Cherry, Hazel, Pine, Mour ‘N Ash, Oak, Mulberry and also Sycamore. They used a variety of finishes from hand painted enamel, gold, silver in a plain tone or textured and many different designs.

The above is a cherry tree leaf brooch by Exquisite in an all textured gold tone. This design can be found in a variety of finished and colours making it ideal to collect. It is also in a large and small size and matching earring clips can be found still.

Above are the vintage cherry leaf earrings – clip style to match the enamel cherry leaf brooches.

Sycamore jewellery or also know as a leaf from the helicopter tree. Throw the seeds in the air and watch them twirl down to the ground. This Sycamore leaf brooch is hand enamelled. So you will find different color tones and looks. Again in a large and small size with matching earrings to be found.

Another version of the Sycamore from Exquisite in an all textured gold tone and a smaller size.

The large leaf is we think from an Elm tree sprig below with the colourful distinct seeds – but we have been wrong before.

This is a Mulberry leaf although the fruit is like a blackberry - it is part of the Birthday range.

 It is an unusual brooch in a cream enamel with raised gold textured edging.

The horse chestnut brooch or conker as more known. Beautifully enamelled by hand is the one in the above photographs. Again found in all sort of finishes.

Or jewellery blogs are ongoing and we add more as we have sourced and photographed it.

Other blogs on Exquisite jewellery:

WAP Watson history.

Rose and flower jewellery by Exquisite.

More delightful brooches after our grand winter sale

We are having a grand winter sale of our delightful brooches and jewellery. Low low prices to make way for next years vintage brooches as well as pre owned and new ones that we have waiting to add. So star brooches and Christmas brooches have been reduced following by all the other category collections in the next few days. Grab yourself a bargain now.

The following vintage brooch are reduced so take a look - unusual and unique at a low price just for our winter sale which finishes in January 2014.

The last is a vintage bird brooch signed Sarah Coventry. Then a Victorian style brooch and earrings set, a vintage star brooch, a portrait brooch, rare Beatles brooch by Exquisite and a Saxon style brooch with a pink cabochon center.

Changes with jewellery signed Exquisite in 1954

Important changes happened within W A P Watson Ltd with Exquisite jewellery. Up until 1954 the company has manufactured their now vintage and sold to shops and other places as a wholesaler. Their whole range of Exquisite jewellery was not really attributed to them. But in 1954, the company built a whole new factory in Solihull and moved from the center of Birmingham in the Jewellery Quarter. After this move this policy was produced and distributed to the people working there.

Instead of just selling their jewellery it now became "Exquisite jewellery Ltd" a subsidiary of WAP Watson Ltd. They brought in more control of their distribution. Introduced new lines into their production. In fact the 1950s very a fabulous time for many manufacturers. Post war and still with rationing in place until much later in the decade. The country was crying out for jewellery. No longer having to worry about war, bombings and no supplies coming into the UK. WAP Watson found it difficult to keep up with the demand.    

In an attempt to bring in a higher class to their range. Exquisite had some imported pieces incorporated. We know that they brought some from Boucher in the US. They also estimated that about 2 million pieces of now vintage jewellery would be produced in one year.

This policy produced shows some of the now vintage brooches, vintage necklaces and vintage earring that was available at that time. This helps with dating them. It also shows views of the factory in Solihull that is long gone and now a large housing estate. I don't think any of the roads and building are named after this company either. Which goes to show how little known how important this company was in the UK. It was the second largest seller of costume jewellery in the UK. The first probably being Coro. Why do we not celebrate our heritage like the US does I will never know?
       

Autumn brooches with leaves and orange green colors

At this time of the year, the leaves are falling and the weather grows cold. Back on goes the coats and jackets. I have always liked to pin an autumn  brooch to my lapel. It is usually a brooch to go with the time of the year or how I feel that day. But it does not have to be a lapel. Pin a brooch to a hat or onto a bag.  It just lifts any outfit. My all time favourite for this time of the year is some great enamel leaf vintage brooches made right here in the UK. Companies like Exquisite, Sphinx and Hollywood produced some all time classics in many different finishes from hand painted enamel, marcasite to plain silver and gold that was textured.

 Golden sycamore vintage brooch by Exquisite. This brooch was available in many different finishes. Many can still be sourced today.

Fabulous hand enameled green ivy vintage brooch by Exquisite. Each brooch was hand painted and so they often varied in their look. Produced from the 1950s through to the 1970s and were very popular. Earrings and necklaces can still be found to match.

Another pretty enameled vintage brooch of a white vine leaf by Exquisite. This is one of the rarer hand enameled pieces we have found.

Hollywood also made some pretty vintage brooches. Also a Birmingham UK company that produced vintage jewellery like Exquisite from the early twentieth century to the late 70s. This is an attractive golden leaves vintage brooch by Hollywood.

Another stylish curled leaf vintage brooch from Hollywood. A popular plume motif used in many different jewellery designs. The texture adds greater interest and contrast.

Mirella Brooches

Good morning, I have wrote about jewellery signed Mirella before. W A P Watson the company who produced the Exquisite brand also produced Mirella. Named after an employee, the brand was for fancy goods and mirrors. However I discovered a short time ago that they also produced a few pieces of jewellery under that name - well two brooches it seems!

This was the purple vintage brooch that I brought a while back.

I have seen this brooch not only signed Mirella but also signed Exquisite.

This is the other brooch (below) that I have just brought signed Mirella. It is the only other one that I have seen under the Mirella brand. Both brooches are in my own collection but we source Exquisite and Mirella jewellery that will be added to the page on the above link regularly.

Both pretty floral designs and hand enameled with mock marcasite. Would say they date to the 1960s.
We have added more vintage brooches over the last few weeks in floral designs as well as with many other looks.

Sarah Coventry Jewellery Brochure 1976 Part 6

Whoops been a while since I wrote a sequel to the 1976 Spring brochure. So here is part 6 and I must try harder to keep up with blog posts now!!
Page 22

A = Heirloom pendant 25"
B = Old Vienna pin/pendant 24"
C = Old Vienna ring.

Page 23

A = Outer space pendant 20 - 22" adjustable.
B = Four dimension necklace/bracelet 33" in gold tone.
B = Above available in silver tone but not shown.

Page 24

Page shows the Black Charmer necklace or pin 30"
Black charmer earrings in clip only.
Versatile jewellery as the brooch can be attached and worn with or without the dropper.
The necklace can be converted into a choker style.


Page 25

A = Ultra versatile earrings
B = Ultra versatile necklace 24"
C = Mystic Lady necklace 31"
The headline says that 24 different styles can be achieved with this versatile ensemble. Detachable droppers and coloured pieces to interchange.

New vintage jewellery and second hand jewellery have been added this week and so much more to come.

Fuchsia vintage brooch by Exquisite July birthday

Silver and emerald ring - second hand jewellery

In Jewels and Finery Craft we have added a few more vintage buttons this week.

A vintage jewel of eighteen

This time eighteen years ago I was waddling around with a huge lump in front of me. You could not actually tell I was pregnant until I turned around!

Now that lump is eighteen and my baby no more - although I think she has never been a baby for many years as she is nearly always mature and acted older for her age

So this week we will be celebrating - have you noticed birthdays no longer last one day but most of the week and all of the weekend! Well they seem to do in this house. 

We have been busy adding many pieces of vintage jewellery last week including lots of brooches suitable for autumn

Vintage brooch by Exquisite

Vintage blue brooch by Hollywood

Vintage sycamore maple brooch by Exquisite 

Jewellery Glossary Part E

Today the sun is shinning and I am trying very hard to resist the call of the garden. So much to do and so little time..

Husband Mark is still suffering from a very nasty chest infection. But hopefully these second lot of antibiotics will get him back on his feet.

Back to today's subject of the jewellery glossary on the letter E

Enamelling - A technique for decorating jewellery and other metal objects. In which a silicate of glass mixed with powdered metallic oxides, which produce the desired colour, is placed on metal in a prepared design and then fused until the enamel paste or powder adheres to the metal. Also can be cold enamelled where the enamel is in a paint form and applied to the metal with a brush by hand and allowed to dry.

The signed vintage jewellery from Exquisite was often hand enamelled using the cold enamel technique

Here is an Exquisite brooch of  berries

Our Christmas vintage jewellery will be on sale at the end of August.

 

En Esclavage - A necklace in which several strands start together and then separate, at an equal distance from the other

Emerald - A precious green variety of the mineral beryl. The range of colours can be from plastic looking milky grass green to the richest of transparent greens. Associated with fertility, prophecy and abundance. Originally mined in Egypt thousands of years ago. But now mined in Brazil, Columbia, Russia, Pakistan and South Africa.
High quality emeralds are used in fine jewellery and the opaque emeralds with occlusions are often used in costume jewellery. "Indian emeralds" are not real emeralds but dyed quartz.    

Eternity rings - Those in the form of a hoop, the circle being regarded as the symbol of eternity. The plain hoop of the wedding ring symbolizes eternal fidelity. Eternity rings are usually set with a continuous line of small stones.

 Vintage brooch from Exquisite Beech Leaf cold hand enamelled

Vintage insect brooch enamelled in green and blue

Vintage white enamel necklace from Jewelcraft

Exquisite Jewellery Signed or Unsigned Information & Dating

For those of you that collect vintage Exquisite jewellery from WAP Watson, may have discovered that many pieces are unsigned.
The company was in production (except the Second World War years) from 1914 until around 1979.
It may surprise you that before 1953 all jewellery was unsigned. Sometime between 1953 and the end of the fifties, they started to add a plaque with the name "Exquisite" in script.

 Script plaque says Exquisite but now worn

The large scarab brooch is signed Tutankhamun - But is by Exquisite and made for the 1921 tour of Tutankhamun's tomb.  

I was lucky to talk to an old employee of W A P Watson who was one of the people who made the jewellery's molds and invented many of the finishes. He worked for them until 1953 and in that time none of the jewellery had a signature. They were sewn onto a fabric pad and boxed. Both of these were named with the trade mark Exquisite.
Up until 1955, the jewelers would patent their designs. So you may see "Pat pend" (patent pending) or "Des Pat no" or "Des Reg" (design registered) on some pieces of vintage jewellery and a number. Copying other company designs was a widespread practice (and still is today). Many designers would submit their jewellery design to be patented. This process would often take several months. Thus the Pat Pend signature.

 Registered patent on these vintage clip earrings signed Kigu

However in 1955 with the changes to the US Copy Right law, because of Trifari winning a historic case against the company Coro. This established that jewellery designs were a work of art. They were then able to use the copy right symbol. The symbol is the small c in a circle (© ) UK soon followed and most jewellery was signed

 Vintage enamel and marcasite brooch signed BJL - but note there is no © therefore probably pre 1955

I have to mention that the first plaques with the script signature of Exquisite did not stand the test of time and can be worn and almost indistinguishable.

So if a piece of vintage jewellery has Pat Pend or a reference to patent then it is probably dating pre 1955. (there are a few exceptions to this) but in general use this rule.

Avon key ring showing the © sign

Back to Exquisite - how to identify non signed jewellery and there are over 40 years worth!

It will match signed pieces. The Scottish luck heather brooches is one range that this is easy to do this with. Also an unsigned pair of earrings will match a signed brooch. In my experience brooches are signed more often. Necklaces are usually unsigned but have the characteristic "bow" tag. Earrings are usually signed and also rings underneath. Bracelets are rare anyway and may be signed or unsigned.

 Love this Exquisite brooch - as can be found with various type of Exquisite signatures and different thickness of the MOP pieces. This one is pre copy right vintage jewellery

It would be ideal if after 1955(ish) we could say the jewellery was all signed but unfortunately this was not the case.

I can now attribute some souvenir jewellery with a plaque to Exquisite because of their early souvenir spoons. But they produced a large range of scatter pins for the 1951 exhibition in London. These I can guess but not confirm due to the large number that can still be found in Solihull and Birmingham. So my search goes on for news clippings, adverts and hopefully jewellery brochures. If you have any I would be very interested.

   Now are the above vintage clip earrings from Exquisite, Hollywood or Jewelcraft?