I love a brooch and have collected quite a few in recent years. My first ever brooch was passed onto me by my Dad after my Mum passed away in 1987 and sadly it is one I`ve never worn (yet) because it`s too heavy for most modern fabrics. It a large cameo in a gold surround and with a safety chain. It weighs a lot and is too big and too heavy to wear on most dresses or blouses and my Mum wore it on her "best " coat which was a heavy tweed fabric with a fur collar.
Back in the 60`s she always wore a brooch either on her coat or at the neck of a blouse. Most of her brooches were costume stuff, paste stones and base metal, she saved her only good brooch, the cameo, for special occasions. I think it may have once belonged to her Mother who died when my Mum was only 13.
The first brooch I bought for myself was a small diamond white gold one, sounds grand but really it isn`t. It`s very small, as are the diamonds in it but it`s very pretty. In recent times Mr V bought me a lovely secondhand brooch made from rose gold and set with 2 trilliant cut amethysts from a local jewellers.
My everyday brooches come from Fable or Jon Richard websites. A cute little enamel dormouse and a cute little blue enamel butterfly both from Fable and a couple of more glitzy ones from Jon Richard who does really good sales and discount codes. The brand was sold in Debenhams until they closed down.
I also have a quirky dog with a cat brooch from Tanguis Jackson which always gathers lots of comments.