Tag Archives: 18K gold and diamond French rose

The story behind the rose on my page

REtro French rose brooch 18k gold and diamond hart 1940s

Retro French rose brooch in 18K gold and diamond hart 1940s

I came across this delicate rose at a local French auction and fell in love with it. It resembles an Eglantine rose, like the ones I have in my garden (for the garden lovers: Rosa rugosa “Blanc double de Coubert”). The petals are made of gold mesh, a technique which was introduced in 1946. The French call this style “ à tamis” or ”sieve”. The diamond hart you can scroll off and can be replaced by a gemstone hart in a different colour, but unfortunately this pin is missing the blue or pink hart. The rose can be worn as a pin but also as a pendant. The petals can move slightly back and forwards so that the rose closes itself for the night.
Besides the hallmarks for 18K gold, the back of the rose is stamped: “BTE SGDG”, this mention was in use between 1844 and 1968. “Bte” is short for “breveté” (=“patented”) and ” S.G.D.G.” stands for “Sans Garantie Du Gouvernement” =”without government guarantee” and means that the government was not liable for the working of the product.

Bewaren

Bewaren

Bewaren