Photo Courtesy of Chaumet
The brooch has witnessed a huge comeback on the fashion and jewelry scene lately. From Chanel to Chaumet, Boucheron, Chopard and Dior, most of the famed jewelry houses are reviving this piece in the most exquisite of ways. However, the latter is not new to the jewelry world, as it is a piece with great history that is worth highlighting.
Brooches didn’t start out as jewels as they were functional items used to secure pieces of clothes, and the first brooches that saw the light were made out of thorns and flint until the Bronze Age, when they started to be crafted out of metal.
During the Byzantine period, they became more ornamental and began to be worn as scarf or shawl fasteners. And like every other piece we use today, they evolved into more elaborate designs to become pieces of adornment.
But before they got to this place in the jewelry scene, they have undergone many stages. Mourning brooches – worn to commemorate loved ones that have passed away – were popular in the 18th and 19th centuries, featuring seed pearls that represent tears and sometimes a compartment for a strand of hair from the deceased, with their name, date of birth and death engraved on the back.
Then came the Aigrette brooches in the 19th and 20th centuries. Feather-shaped, set with flat-cut garnets or diamonds and often featuring a little bird flying around the plume, they were worn in the hair and most of the times attached to a diadem.
The Entremblant brooches also became fashionable in the 18th and 19th centuries before the advent of electricity. They featured flowers with centers attached to a mechanism that allowed them to move when worn, which gave the piece a striking effect when the diamonds moved in candlelight.
Love brooches – also called sweetheart brooches – were historically given by soldiers to their loved ones as they marched off to WWI. Decorated with everything from lovebirds and double hearts to well wishes and good tidings and positions in the family, these brooches captured nothing but love.
In the 1920s and 1930s, the dress clips came along and took a more stylish and fashionable turn. Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Tiffany & Co. and many renowned jewelry houses created a selection of different styles for jewelry enthusiasts to indulge in. Whether pinned to the straps of gowns, the left and right necklines of dresses, collars and cuffs, fixed to accessories such as shoes or even attached to a handbag, their captivating designs are timeless and continue to amaze us until today.
Mirella Haddad
