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ebay auctions: www.suezin.com
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BRASS HISTORY you
are at my design studio.... use links at right or at bottom of page to navigate>
WHAT IS BRASS? Brass Is An Alloy (Mixture) Of Copper And Zinc In Variable Proportions. Depending On The Proportion Of Copper/Zinc,
The Color Of Brass Can Vary From Yellow/Green To A Redish (Coppery) Tone.
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Example
Of Yellow "Gold" Brass (New)
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HISTORY OF BRASS JEWELRY
Many anitque
dealers are familiar with term "Pinchbeck Jewelry". It was named for Christopher Pinchbeck (1670-1732) who was a
famous clock & watch maker who had a shop in London where he made and sold jewelry as well as watches and clocks. His
discovery looked like gold, but contained no gold! While the actual formula was guarded, many believed it contained four parts
copper and 3 parts zinc. The mixing copper & zinc to make a gold color metal is today known as...BRASS!
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Example
of "Low" Brass. Brown Tone. (New)
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Old
Brass With Natural Aging/Patina
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OLD OR NEW BRASS?
Victorian jewelry
became popular in the USA in the late 1800's and continued through the mid 1900's. During this period, there were many USA
brass houses producing victorian style brass components for use in jewelry and decorative items. The tooling for many of these
pieces are still in existance and to our delite, are being reproduced for our enjoyment today! With aging/antiquing technics,
it is virtually impossible to tell the difference. As you can see in some of the designs below, I mix old & new in many
of my pieces :)
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Aged Patina Brass With Czech Glass
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Renaissance Style In Mixed Natural Brass
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THE VICTORIAN ERA
The Victorian Era is named for the reign
of Queen Victoria (1837-1901). Known for it's eclecticism, the Victorians took on many of the styles from the middle ages
including Gothic & Renaissance motifs. Iron & steel were also used in jewelry through out these era's (from the early
1700's) and can also be found in jewelry as late as the 1930's.
There really are no rules when designing jewelry!
Get pieces that appeal to YOU and put them together. My best advise for jewelry making or crafting, is for you to acquire
components and findings that you like then just go for it!!!
!! INTERESTING FACT !!
The victorians used names
of stones to spell out words or initials in jewelry. Example: Connect together turquoise (T), amethyst (A) and jet (J). To
make the initials TAJ (Tammy Agatha Jones :))
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A Gothic
Style Set. Mixed Old & New Brass
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