Antique and collectible history / antique hallmarked gold pendants

During the Victorian era the refined tastes of royalty, nobility and the well heeled expected the finest gold & silversmiths in the United Kingdom to craft superbly ornamented jewellery & silverware. These pieces are so well made and beautiful that they are still highly prized and sought-after in the 21st century. The desire for superbly ornamented pieces expressed itself in the popularity of Cellini & Elizabethan pattern work. 

By the late Victorian era this firm was described as one of the largest watch-key and gold & silver chain makers in the world. At this time it employed as many as 300 highly skilled workers. The company manufactured patented goods for other businesses. For example Birch’s patent watch keys and also other brands of watch keys.

The goldsmith known as Albert Ernest Jenkins is one of our favourite locket makers. His superior quality lockets are among the finest we have seen and yet despite the presence of his finely wrought lockets, he remains a mystery.

This guide will show you how to guarantee that you are buying authentic Edwardian jewellery.

While other blogs deal with Edwardian style and fashion we are endeavouring to compile a guide to enable accurate dating.

Sheldon Brothers began trading in 1881. The firm operated from buildings located in the heart of the London & Birmingham Jewellery Quarters. In the Victorian era their business premises were listed as 6 Vyse Street, Birmingham and 65 Hatton Garden, London, EC. 

This firm of manufacturing silversmiths was active from 1896 - 1959, when it was acquired by Ward Brothers (Birmingham) Ltd. The business premises of Harold Crisford & William Clement Norris were located at 117-118 Vyse Street in the heart of the Birmingham jewellery quarter. The company is noted for its high quality luxury pieces which include babies rattles, bookmarks, boxes, button hooks, card cases, powder compacts, match box holders, napkin rings, pepperettes, shoe horns, spoons, stamp cases and trophy cups.

 

 

The enchanting illustration above shows the industrious nature of the Pringle family. At first glance we see a double fronted manufacturing premises fitted out with an elegant showroom on the ground floor. The signage reads as follows 42 ROBERT PRINGLE & SONS 40. The impressive facade only gives us a glimpse of the extent of the premises. The next two buildings on the right (numbers 38 and 36 were also owned by the firm. 

Solomon Blanckensee was born in 1801 in Filehne, Wielen, Czarnków-Trzcianka County, Poland. His father was Levin Blanckensee & his mother Julia Joseph. He had three brothers, Issac, Myer & Moses. By the time of his death in 1864 he was a highly successful jeweller. He died in the county of Warwickshire, Great Britain.
In 1826, Solomon Blanckensee founded a jewellery concern based in Bristol, England. The business proved to be highly successful and as time went by it acquired a number of other prominent jewellery firms. The size of the business and quality of the products meant that it had few others considered to be its equals.