THE ANTIQUE
Stick pins
With wedding season upon us and Father's Day on 18th June, special gifts and smart dressing are in the air. In past times, just as women embellished their attire with brooches and hat pins, men wore stick pins to fasten their neckerchiefs and cravats, and these decorative items regularly crop up at auctions and fairs.
The golden era for stick pins was the mid 19th to the early 20th century, and these popular accessories were produced in an array of finial designs that incorporated twinkling diamonds, rubies, sapphires, split pearls and opals, fixed to pins in 9-carat gold up to 18-carat. Some pins feature turquoise, the precious stone that symbolises the forget-me-not flower and everlasting love in the Victorian language of flowers. Others come with metal stoppers or safety chains to secure
