Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Vintage Jewelry Word of the Week - What is a Bar Pin?

Today's vintage jewelry word brings up images of something you might wear to a bar on a girl's night out. Alas...this is not to be.

A bar pin a brooch or pin which is very narrow but long - quite similar in shape to a baguette stone. Bar pins are often embellished with gemstones or rhinestones and some popular styles have chain dangles. Some are actually shaped like a safety pin, although these should be correctly referred to as Kilt pins.

Bar pins had a height of popularity during the Victorian period, when many were set in real gold with semi precious or precious stones. These older styles have C clasps and are highly collectible today.The popularity of bar pins waned somewhat during the retro vintage years when larger and more ornate pins were the fashion. The older styles are the most collectible designs.

Many popular vintage jewelry designers made bar pins with Sarah Coventry designing several of them during the time period of the mid 20th century. Bar pins do seem to have had a resurgence lately, and can be found in many contemporary designs.

Here are some examples of bar pins:

2 comments:

  1. Can you tell me the history on the second bar pin you have above this post? I have something very similar and have spent days looking for something remotely the same and came up with nothing. I was only looking up the definition of C clasps (trying to date a piece I have) and saw this.

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  2. HI,

    I don't know much about the history of the piece, other than the fact that it is Signed Miracle. I believe it is a Scottish pin, but am not sure. I sold it several years ago.

    Carol

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