Antique Brooch in the Shape of a Diamond-Set Sword, c. 1895

Sparkling diamonds adorn the hilt and scabbard of this precious sword. Both parts can be separated so that the golden blade can pierce fabric—almost like a real sword in miniature form. A fine gold cord, set with a precious natural pearl, connects the two parts. The sword was created in the mid-1890s. Precious swords were everywhere back then: set with diamonds, made of gold and silver, some enamelled or adorned with colourful stones, and others crafted simply from base materials as costume jewellery. Women wore them during the day to hold the chatelaine, or in the evening, threaded through the lace trims of their ball gowns. All of a sudden, they were there—and contemporaries couldn’t make head or tail of why. “There is nothing the matter with the peace of Europe; we are one in heart with all mankind: yet suddenly swords are unsheathed, flashing by day and night, and every woman abroad and at home springs to arms. The sudden and complete victory of the emblem of war over the bonds of love is one of those peculiar manifestations of women’s preferences that no human being could predict or explain. All anyone knows is that the ornament of the hour is the sword,” noted the Jeweler’s Circular in the spring of 1893. But perhaps it was precisely this era of peace, the Belle Époque, that made it possible to wear swords as purely decorative accessories in the first place. No political statement could be read into this that might have been considered provocative at social events. Instead, these swords shone as decorative ornaments, much like their historical models, the courtly ceremonial swords: beautiful, magnificent, and only very faintly menacing. The quote is from Elsie Bee, “The All-Pervading Sword Fad,” The Jeweler’s Circular and Horological Review, 22 March 1893, p. 37.

Estimate:£7,917.81

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