Vintage button packs

We have been buttoning it this week!!

Mark and I have been adding lots of packs of vintage buttons. All colours and styles in single quantities or larger amounts

The March issue of Button Lines arrived last week - The journal of the British Button Society. Full of interesting articles: cut steel and Suffragette buttons for collecting. If you collect or have an interest in buttons the society is well worth joining

Now have a growing mixture of antique and vintage buttons for sewing, embellishment, jewellery making, soft furnishing, craft projects and also some for collecting

Mustard Brown Buttons

White Feature Buttons

Cleaning Jewellery With An Ultrasonic Cleaner

Jewellery picks up dirt from every day wear. A piece of jewellery may not look as though it has but often when you start to clean and see the results you realize that it was in need of a clean.

A few weeks ago, we brought a small ultrasonic cleaner. Having looked at them before and were not too convinced that they would clean better than by hand. But we saw this small model at a good price and thought we would give it a try.

Well we should have brought one before now. It brings jewellery up a treat. New looking and shiny.

The first sunflower brooch we tried to clean, we actually thought was gold plated and had been worn. This is the brooch - a sunflower - It came clean and looks like new

So now converted and slowly working our way through all our jewellery on our website

An ultrasonic cleaner works with ultrasonic waves through water. So not suitable for some pieces of jewellery but ideal for many rings, brooches, necklaces and chains. Bangles and bracelets.

Exquisite Sales Update 1

Just a brief blog today.cAnyway over the last couple of days have been watching two brooches on eBay UK by Exquisite.
The brooches are of single flower similar to the birthday series. Both are very collectable

The first brooch was a poppy with a poppy seed head (1 3/4 x 2 inches). Sold by a seller in Cardiff, Wales. The brooch sold for £51.00
The second brooch was a pansy with an unopened flower, but I may be mistaken and it could be the seed pod just starting to ripen (3 inches). Sold by a seller in Flintshire in Wales. It sold for £13.49

They are the first type of these brooches for sale that I have seen since January 09 and both from Wales.

Kitsch Jewelry Making & Vintage Redux by Brenda Schweder

Our family hates waste, I think it is because my husband and I were the product of the late fifties and sixties. Very little was wasted in those days. Being a keen gardener and from at least two generations of keen gardeners. Both my parents and grandparents kept chickens and had most of their garden given over to producing food. We used toilet rolls to plant beans and sweet peas. Kitchen waste and paper turned into rich compost. Carpet covered ground to suppress weeds and warm it up for those early potatoes. Cartoons were used as seed trays and a whole greenhouse, staging and cold frames were produced from off cuts and plastic and glass throw outs.

So it was a natural progression to keep the broken pieces of jewelry and "odd" or kitsch things that were no longer of use or had fallen out of fashion. I have a great imagination on what these pieces can be used for but unfortunately no longer the dexterity to carry out any crafts. Knowing that sometimes the ideas require items that can be difficult to find. We started to list a few kitsch items on our website as part of the beads, buttons and findings. Just as a section to create interest and maybe fire someone's imagination. Vintage marbles to wire for men's jewellery (love the used chipped look, just tumble to smooth the edges), plastic dogs that can be used for a charm bracelet. Gonks or trolls that can be collected or turned into earrings, bracelets, neckleces or phone charms. Scrabble pieces and dominoes can be re-used. For ideas or just to buy finished jewellery have a look at the artists on the website Ruby lane.

Our Kitsch section has been very successful, we have in fact sold over half the items listed and continue to receive visits from many people. So we will still continue to add kitsch items as and when we have sourced them!

When I saw a book just released in November last year that showed you how to use vintage jewellery to make new and interesting "new" jewelry - I was intrigued. At the time the book was only available from the USA. So I sent for it and though had a bit of a wait for delivery, it was certainly worth it.

The book was Vintage Redux by Brenda Schweder.

This is Brenda's second book, her first Junk to Jewelry was published the previous year. If you reuse vintage jewelry in any form of jewelry making, I would recommend this book. Brenda has some fantastic ideas and her refashioned jewelry looks brilliant.
I love bracelets and bangles and her use of brooches on plastic bangles is a great idea. Also using brass stampings to give a vintage appeal and to facelift a plain plastic bangle is something I had never thought of doing. I would have thought to glue stones to the bangle but they would have been fragile, but to wire stampings into the plastic gives a more stable piece of jewelry.

"Great minds think alike" comes to mind when I saw the use of cloisonne thimbles. Having just brought and photographed a pair of thimbles to add to our kitsch section. I can not recommend this book enough and have now just purchased her first book and I am eagily awaiting delivery

The photographs have been taken from the book

Exquisite Jewellery Part 3 Leaf Series

This blog on Exquisite Jewellery by W A P Watson Ltd continues to create interest across the world. Please view the comment from the USA by Mike Savage, whose mother worked on the Exquisite range in the fifties. Mike the Ring O Bells garage is still there and thank you to all for the comments and emails!

I am still waiting to hear from the company in Shirley but have been busy researching at the local library. Only 3 paper clippings were recorded in the archives. From 1965, 1972 and 1973

In the Solihull news from Saturday 27th February 1965, Exquisite had celebrated its jubilee having been founded in 1915. 14 representatives now cover the country from Glasgow to Christchurch and from Northern Ireland (and Eire) to the East Coast. The business has one section working in Paris, where patterns are constantly being added by a team of designers.

"Inspired by King Tut" was the title in the Solihull News in August 26th 1972. Exquisite was showing a new range of jewellery inspired by the exhibition of King Tutankahmun's treasure in London. Most of the necklaces and bracelets are slightly smaller copies of the actual pieces in the exhibition. While the rings are have been created in a similar design to finish the set. Made in a lightweight gold plated metal they are hand painted in vivid jewel colours. The collection was available in Beatties of Solihull and Leslie's of Station Road in September (1972).
I have researched many styles of Exquisite jewellery and have yet only seen brooches and necklaces in turquoise faux stones and pearl beads, that look quite an Egyptian style; but I am sure that these are not this collection which I have yet to see samples. In the last blog when I wrote this, several appeared for sale on the internet - so maybe next update??

The last newspaper clip was from the Solihull News dated March 10th 1973, on the retirement of employee Harold Goldsworthy after 50 years with W A P Watson. His 200 workmates clubbed together to present him with a transistor radio and the directors gave him a gold watch to mark the occasion.

In the last blog, I had looked at signed jewellery pieces and unsigned pieces. In the Scottish range (which I will discuss the various pieces in another blog) you can find many unsigned pieces. I still believe they were manufactured before Exquisite used their signature. In these two examples from the front, they are very similar, with a more flattened leaf and different coloured glass stones. The back has signs of a different moulding process. The unsigned piece has a flat mould with a riveted clasp. The signed piece has been manufactured using a rounder mould and the pin clasp has been soldered to the brooch.

I would welcome any comments on the unsigned and signed Scottish range.




































These are just some of the different ranges of
Exquisite jewellery identified so far:

Birthday range
Scottish range
Mother of pearl/Abalone range
Marcasite & enamel range
Butterfly wing range
Enamel & pearl range
gilt range
silver tone range
Leaf & the tree fruit range
Multi-coloured stone range
faux gemstone range
Turquoise & pearl range
Faux jade range
Cameo range
Painted scene's range
Glass bead range
Figural range
Enamel leaf range
And so many more....

Each of these ranges will be looked at in the blog in the coming year
Today's range is the Enamel Leaf Range

In the Enamel Leaf Range, there are brooches and earrings (clip-on style)
The range has the following leaves depicted:
Vine
Beech
Horse Chestnut
Elm
Fig
Cherry
Hazel
Pine
Mountain Ash
Oak
Mulberry
Sycamore

All the range was painted in the greens and brown enamel as near to the natural colour of the individual leaves.

The box list has the leaf range in brooches and earrings only, but there are a few necklaces appearing on the internet for sale. These are mostly unsigned pieces. the vine seems to have been the most popular as there are many available on the market.
There are also some pieces that look to have been hand-painted, so well that the clasp and the back are also painted! However, the leaves were also available in silver-tone, gold-tone and enamelled in many other colours and marcasite etc. The same mould was used across a range of finishes.

Exquisite Birthday Range Part 2

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been collecting all information on sales of Exquisite jewellery across the internet and intend to continue to compile as much information as possible. I am also waiting to hear back from the W A P Watson company that is still based in Solihull. Until I hopefully hear back from the company, I have estimated that the signature by Exquisite was first used in the early to mid-fifties, when many other jewellery companies started to patent and mark their designs. At the end of this blog I will discuss more the signed and unsigned jewellery, but first a look again at the Birthday series.

I have verified that the snowdrop was January so:
January - snowdrop flower bunch
February - primrose
March - violets
April - iris
May - pansy
June - rose
July - fuschia
August - poppy
September - cornflower (photograph of cornflower clip on earrings)
October - carnation
November - chrysanthemum
December - Christmas rose or Helleborus niger

The Birthday series was available in brooches, necklaces and clip-on earrings. During my time collecting jewellery and researching I have not found a bracelet. But I can not imagine that there would not have been produced. Is there anyone who has an Exquisite Birthday bracelet?

The series appears to have been produced over a long period of time and dating each piece can be difficult. I suspect that they were produced from the late forties to the eighties. Dating may be possible from the packaging as that seems to differ. But the brooch could have been switched into older or newer packaging at some point and unless the history of the jewellery is confirmed, should not be relied on for dating. The birthday series can be found in several types of boxes, also on a plastic cushion with the flower identified and the month. There was also a gift tag produced that can also be sourced and available with some pieces of jewellery

The brooches are available in two sizes - large size of approximately 6 - 7 cm x 4 - 5 cm. Then a smaller brooch of approximately 5 x 3 - 4 cm. The brooches are not a smaller or larger version of one design but do have some variation.
The large brooches seem to be the most available with a smattering of the smaller brooches coming onto the market. The majority of the brooches in the Birthday series appear to be signed but I have seen one not, which I will discuss in more depth later in this blog. All the brooches have the characteristic Exquisite bow. The metal differs from a gold to a silvery gold to silver. I suspect that the brooches were originally gold plated and the plating has worn over time or been rubbed off when cleaned. She who has just turned a gold-tone cat pendant silver by just polishing today, not an Exquisite one I hasten to add!!

The earrings match the brooches and are of the clip on type. Again the majority appear to be signed. They are available and appear for sale on a regular basis. Some months are more available than others, September and the summer months have been offered for sale, but the winter months of January and December have not appeared for sale recently. It is a matter of waiting and searching regularly!

Necklaces that match the brooches and earrings do come up for sale and are now commanding a good price. Most of the necklaces are not signed, though some are. They may be signed on one of the links. They are also recognised by the chain and the hook fastening. Some carry the trademark of the Exquisite bow on the end of the chain. I have another type of necklace by Exquisite that has these trademarks and unsigned but not one of the birthday series as yet.
Necklaces are quite rare in quantity compared to the brooches that appear for sale, it may be due to two reasons.

The first is that the enamel on the necklaces does wear off and so many of the necklaces offered for sale are not in excellent condition. The other is that when they are not signed, many antique and vintage sellers do not realise they are Exquisite and therefore passed them over when buying to resell.

I have been enchanted by the Birthday series because of the variety to collect. As the enamel was hand painted, each piece can differ in colour. For example, the difference in brooches of the same month is enormous. The leaf green colour can vary between a bright green to a softer tone. The flowers that can appear in nature in many colours can also differ. The carnation goes from a dark pink to a light pink and can even be found in two-tone colours of pink and white. All very charming and great fun collecting.

Exquisite produced many series such as the leaf series, the tree and their fruit series, the Scottish souvenir series and many more. They also used a wide range of materials from faux pearl beads, mother of pearl, glass diamante crystals, marcasite, faux gemstones and plain gilt.

In my first blog about Exquisite, I questioned the French connection as all the jewellery that I had seen, looked very English or Scottish. But I have found a connection in the fifties (that I need to explore a bit more) with the jewellery designer Marcel Boucher. I will leave this for a future blog subject and debate

I have over the last few weeks been buying unsigned and signed pieces that I suspected as being Exquisite. From the pieces that I have gathered. I am edging toward the possibility that the unsigned pieces were the early ones and that some have worn signatures were of the early production of signed jewellery and later ones were more robust and the signature remains crisp. But that is only a theory that I need to have confirmation. A brooch for December recently was sold on eBay (UK) unsigned attributed to Exquisite. The difference was that the Christmas roses were in a pink colour and the red berries were green. Without a comparison between the brooches, identity can be difficult. They did look the same in the photographs but no back view was shown. However, the pink Christmas rose brooch was very pretty in its own right.

More on Exquisite jewellery soon. In the meantime - here are two brooches from the Scottish souvenir series. One is signed - the other has a partial Exquisite signature. Have a look and next blog I will explore the differences.

And side by side, the last two photographs are quick snaps and will have better ones in the next blog?

I have been unable to show photographs as without the original photographer's permission I will not use their photographs. However, if you have any photographs or comments please email me or add a comment to this blog. Any information gratefully received.

Diamante Brooch

Sheaf Brooch

Jewels and Finery

Clip On Earrings, Pierced Earrings Converters & Allergy protection

There are such a wide variety of clip-on earrings available today that we can be spoiled for choice.

But we no longer need to just buy earrings for pierced ears - if you have pierced ears or ones for clip on - if you do not have piercings. There are several types of earring converters on the market

For converting pierced earrings to clip-on can be used by both women or men who do not have pierced ears or may have torn earlobes. A wide selection is readily available from converting stud, post or the dangling type of earrings to clip on. They are also available in gold and silver plated metal or nickel free.
Online the earring converters are available from many jewellery shops, eBay and also the company Avon produce them. Price varies from £4 to £15 depending on type and amount purchased. They are readily available in the UK

For converting clip-on earrings to pierced, I can only find or have heard of one supplier that has patented the converters. "My Earring Buddy" is available on eBay. com (USA), it appears to convert many different styles of clip-on earrings to wear through a pierced ear. This information I discovered via the Jewelry Ring forum. But I have been unable to find a supplier in the UK so this product is only available to order from the USA. Very easy to do and will cost about £15 including P & P for a pair of earring converters.

Other earring accessories that may be of use are pads for clip-on earrings, clip-on adjusters and a liquid application to allow the wearing of earrings (or other jewellery) if you suffer from an allergy to certain metals.

Clip-on earring pillows can be the slipper type that fit over the earring paddle to give more comfort and improve grip. Also, sticky clip-on pads, small cushion adhesive circles, are available that fit onto the earring paddle (over the hole on the paddle) and cushions the ears from pinching. There are also clip earring plugs that fit into the holes found on some clip mechanisms with a round pad to one side that cushions the ear lobe. All these types of earring supports are freely available on the internet. Limited in the UK but a wide assortment available in the USA. Price range £3 - £5 + P & P per pack.

For pinching or loose clip on earrings that are a nuisance, then a clip-on earring adjuster is available. This handy key type tool can adjust the tightness of the clip on the paddle or loosen the tension for comfort as required. This tool I have only found in the USA. Again easy to order and widely available online. Usually around £5 + P & P.
The same result can be obtained by carefully using a pair of tweezers and a pair of long-nosed
pliers - if you so wish.

Allergies stop many people from wearing costume jewellery, usually an allergy to the metal nickel; but some people can be allergic to precious metals such as gold and silver.

There is a solution that has worked for many people -coating the metal to allow the jewellery to be worn.
On the market, there are many solutions that coat the earring posts such as"Skin Guard", "Nickel Solution", "Liquid Shield" and "Ears L' Protect" Just some of the solution's manufacturer's names that are available. They all work by applying one or two protective coats between the earrings metal and your skin. They do need to be re-applied to the earrings at regular intervals.
However, some people use a liquid bandage for paper cuts or clear nail varnish and get the same
good results, of allowing them to wear earrings that they have been unable to wear due to an allergy.

Don't forget to clean your earrings regularly as they can get coated in makeup or hair products and go dull

At Jewels and Finery, we now have a large selection of vintage earrings of pierced, screw back and clip-on type. We also sell new earrings that are a bit unusual and stylish for pierced ears. Enjoy browsing.