Tag Archives: Victorian

Adventures in silver testing part 4: the Victorian charms

Years ago, I bought these charms in a charity shop for £20.00. They must be at least 120 years old, and some of them are really quite beautiful. I particularly like the big pipe with a man’s head as the bowl – he looks like an Easter Island statue.

I wondered if the charms might be silver, but there’s something about the lustre and patina that isn’t quite right for silver. The other day, I got the ol’ testing kit out and was totally unsurprised to find that it came up negative. I think the they’re made from some kind of lead alloy. And as they’ve been stored in a box for a long time without seeing the light of day, I am selling them on Etsy.

Repair job: silver bracelet with hollow dangle charm

I paid £5 for this lovely hallmarked silver thing in a local charity shop the other day:

It almost certainly started life as a bracelet, but the fastener was absent. So I dug around in my box of bits, and found a toggle clasp. This clasp originally came off a Dower and Hall necklace that fell apart as soon as I got it home from the charity shop. It’s also hallmarked and has a nice, organic shape (rosebud finials!) that goes well with the bracelet. I used a couple of sturdy jump rings to attach the toggle, and now I’ve got a functional bracelet:

I’m still a bit puzzled by the bracelet’s age. The overall design and the style of the hallmark makes me think Victorian/Edwardian, but I can’t read the date letter – looks like a very worn “p” or maybe a Q. The rest of the hallmark is lion passant, leopard’s head (London) and maker’s initials GLC or GLG. Any suggestions as to who this is and when they were plying their craft are most welcome.

Repurposed pendant made from a Victorian brooch



I bought a job lot of silver bits a while back, one of which was a Victorian brooch with some lovely engraving featuring cannabis-like leaves and a little bird. Unfortunately the pin had come off, leaving the C-clasp behind, plus a rough blob of solder where the pin had joined onto the back. I used a pair of pliers to curl the C-clasp and form a closed loop, and then bent the loop back so that it was near-parallel to the surface of the brooch. Then I added a jump ring. I used the file that had come with my new silver testing kit to smooth off the solder. So here is the result, front and back:

The back looks less than ideal but at least it’s reasonably smooth – and I made a pendant from something that would have ended up lying in a drawer or being sold for scrap.