Collecting... New, absolutely not! BUT NICE...

No, but herein are some 'pearls' from the past on the theme of 'sweetheart brooches'....

Onward...

Completely new and one which should appeal to 'sweethearts' - Brooches which were often given to armed forces families and friends before those concerned went to war.  Perhaps as a good luck talisman or in case they did not ty return.  Many were donated to hospital nurses by the injured and worn inside the nurses cloaks.  'Sweetheart Brooches' - a much neglected area of collecting.

This is the epitome of a QARANC sweetheart brooch - absolutely gorgeous- I was luck enough to have collected this one!

It appears to be silver, although there are no hallmarks or maker marks, so I may be wrong about that. Whatever, it is a superbly crafted item with a loop for a safety chain with a superbly engineered and lockable pin. I am not sure about the construction. The body seems cast, with the fittings - pin and safety loop - added later. Nice. A sweetheart brooch perhaps? I wanted, of course, to find out more about it...
 

'Barrysutton' one of our members and a veritable font of knowledge - especially on military items - has identified the metal as marcasite, (an iron disulphide. A metal Pyrite very popular in the Art Deco period). Barry says "that they 'used to sell them in the R.A.M.C./Q.A.R.A.N.C. museum, around the 1970's - marcasite on silver. They cost about £20 each' when first sold..." Art Deco....

'Ask.com' says 'During its heyday, Art Deco represented luxury, glamour, exuberance, and faith in social and technological progress'. Certainly very popular during the 20's, '30's, and 40's for jewelry among other things Art Deco lost much of it's popularity after WWII. This piece certainly retains it's popularity as a prized example in my QARANC badge collection!

Set with semi-precious stones it is not worth an exorbitant price - BUT - being from a service such as the QARANC the price would depend on such things as availability; desirability et al.  The eye of the beholder..!!  Fifty to the low hundreds perhaps..... If you can find one that is!

**I originally featured this one back in April2014.


And of course it was not just the army which had sweetheart brooches - all the services had them. This one from the Royal Navy.. Silver and enamel from the 1930's including the pin - the whole in good condition. Silver and enamel

And of course a superb copy of an RAF Sweetheart brooch - Gilt metal.

Absolutely stunning.  This one from 'westendcollectables' - sterling silver with superbly detailed coloured enamels intended for the sweetheart of a WWI flyer...
 

And there are many more to come from all sources, forces and civilian.  Watch this column and look out for the special article.

So, where do we go form here? The local antique shop? No. I have already mentioned a new article above - Fixings & Fastenings - NEW - part one is online right now.  Link  Part two will follow in the New Year.

But sweetheart brooches were intended not only for sweethearts, but for serving members of the armed forces - families and friends.  And there are probably many other examples, in addition to the armed services, which featured other services outside the scope of this article.

The brooches themselves were made in a variety of shapes, sizes and metals, from base metal, to silver, to gold. Miniatures were intended for wear to show support for serving members, rather as does the Royal Red Cross poppy we see ever year at the cenotaph.

Imagine, in a recurring dream - that you had to prepare an academic paper to be published on the origins of the history of the  British Nursing Sweetheart Brooches. Start to finish! You have 1000 words and three hours. Start Now!!....  Before you wake up in the exam room...

Well, that is yet another very pleasant note upon which to end the 61st Schools of Nursing Site News..... Next update SEPTEMBER 2022.