Tag Archives: upcycled pendant

Silver mask pendant converted from a brooch

Continuing the theme of jewellery conversions, I’ve just made this sterling silver mask pendant:

… out of a brooch that had once been part of an auction lot. The brooch was unwearable because the rollover clasp had lost its rollover part. This wouldn’t necessarily have been a problem, but the pin was also very loose in its moorings – hence the brooch would fall off almost as soon as you put it on. Below is a picture of the pendant from the back, when it was in fact a brooch:

I knew I had to remove the pin and somehow break off the clasp and mooring. I was able to clip them off using a pair of pliers, but this left a couple of jagged stumps which would have been uncomfortable (and unsafe) to wear next to the skin, and the file I normally use for silver testing wasn’t really up to the job. Imagine my joy when last week I found a metal file for 20p in a charity shop. This file (see bottom picture) did a great job of sanding down the stumps, although it did take about half an hour of continuous work to do it. Anyway, I’m sure the file will play a key role in future jewellery mini-projects like this one.

Bohemian garnet bonanza… with bonus upcycled pendant



I’ve recently started going to my local auction house to find stuff to sell in my shop. So far, I’ve been encouraged by what I have found. One box of mixed jewellery, won several months ago, came up with a couple of silver items, plus some interesting costume bits and pieces along with these:

bohemiangarnetbits2

…and viewed from the back:

bohemiangarnetbits3

One of the pieces was obviously a brooch, with a missing catch and several missing stones. The smaller “clusters” looked to be part of a necklace. There was also a pair of matching earrings not shown in the above pics. More about these in a moment.

I pondered what these luscious blood red stones could possibly be. Clearly the settings were good quality and when intact, the brooch, necklace and earrings would have cost quite a bit of money. There is no hallmark anywhere on the metal but it looks like silver, with a gold wash that has more or less worn off. I put all the pieces in a little plastic bag, placed the bag in my “IDK what on earth do do with this” stash, and forgot about it.

Until one day a couple of weeks ago I was on eBay having a browse, as you do. In an attempt to copy Pinterest, eBay likes to present you with a gallery of items vaguely related to your previous searches, in the hope you’ll be tempted to bid. I normally ignore these items but on this occasion, my eye was caught by a listing for a “Bohemian garnet brooch”. The stones and setting looked exactly like the pieces I’d found at the auction. Further internet searching revealed that yes, Bohemian garnets are real garnets and they come from Bohemia in the Czech Republic, where they’ve been mined for centuries. (More info here: http://www.granat.cz/en/bohemian-garnet.) Further searching led to the discovery that vintage jewellery made with Bohemian garnets commands a fairly decent price. So I was able to sell the earrings for about twice what I paid for the original box of costume jewellery.

I also made this, for myself:

bohemiangarnetnecklace2

Though I say it myself, I think it looks pretty good! I’m now left with the brooch and seven necklace “clusters”. I think I will sell the brooch “for spares or repair”, but I’ll keep the clusters in case I’m inspired to do any more upcycling.