Victorian Hand Pins

Buy now: Victorian Hand Pins

Nearing the end of the 1800s, the Industrial Revolution influenced every factory engaged in assembly line manufacturing. Metal stamping dies and electroplating brought mass production to jewelry making. These exciting innovations, coupled with imitation jewels from Bohemia, resulted in an outpouring of affordable jewelry. No longer a luxury, jewelry began to be worn for purposes of fashion and routinely given as a gift of sentiment.

After 1880, jewelry designs that had previously been made as individual pieces were now mass produced. One example is a much beloved brooch of Victorian origin—in the shape of a hand, usually holding a flower to express sentiment. This motif was made, one at a time, in carved ivory or wood or cast gold. With mechanized production, the pin was revived in dozens of design variations in stamped metal, right up to the 1950s.

Sweet Romance issues two remarkable metal and composition gloved hand pins. One holds a yellow rose, expressing platonic love and treasured memories according to the Victorian language of flowers. The other holds a fan with a petite garland of roses, signifying the flirtatious communication common in Victorian era intermingling of ladies and gentlemen. It is a splendid "thinking of you" gift that blends history with your affection.