Edwardian style leaf spray brooches were still being made well into the 20th century, long after the actual Edwardian era had ended, and this one is a case in point — fully hallmarked for London, 1977, despite wearing all the visual hallmarks of a design language from seventy years earlier. It's a reminder that jewellery styles have a much longer shelf life than the historical periods they're named after, and that a hallmark is worth more than a stylistic guess when you actually want to know when something was made.
The leaf and floral spray is set in 9ct yellow gold with rubies and pearls scattered through the foliage, and the central flower carries a small mix of genuine and simulated stones worth being upfront about: the centre stone and four smaller accents are diamonds, while the two larger stones flanking them are paste. It's not an unusual combination for jewellery of this type and era — paste was routinely used alongside genuine stones to bulk out a design without bulking out the price — and the result reads as a cohesive, well-balanced piece rather than an obvious substitution.
Condition notes
Great vintage condition. One paste stone sits at an angle in its setting.
