HISTORY
Scotland has a long history of producing jewellery that dates as far back as the Iron Age.
But it was during the Victorian era that the country’s traditional designs saw a surge in popularity.
After Queen Victoria and Prince Albert began to regularly holiday at Balmoral Castle, which they purchased in 1852, the Queen began to collect pieces of Scottish jewellery as souvenirs of her visits, setting a trend which made the traditional jewellery one of most fashionable accessories of the day.
The first designs to catch on with Victorian society were plaid brooches, which served a functional as well as decorative purpose as they were traditionally used to fasten tartan at the shoulder. These brooches were often crafted in silver by local silversmiths or in gold for very fine pieces, and used Celtic motifs as a central design feature. They were often set with cairngorm, a smoky quartz from Cairngorm mountain which is the country’s national gemstone and was a favourite of Queen Victoria.
GEMSTONES
Brooches and bracelets were also decorated with a variety of polished hardstones native to Scotland which gave the traditional jewellery the name “Scottish pebble jewellery”. Gemstones such as agate, cornelian, bloodstone, rock crystal, jasper, and onyx in earthy shades of brown, yellow, grey, russet invoked the colours of the rugged countryside and often showed off the beautiful natural graining of each stone.
Local pink and grey granite were also popular, as were citrines, whilst the use of amethyst was particularly well suited for decorating pieces with thistles, the national emblem of Scotland.
THEMES
Other motifs to look out for in Scottish jewellery include miniature Scottish dirk pins, which are small replicas of ceremonial knives used to secure kilts; the Celtic Revival Cross, which was popular for pendants and pins; the Cross of St. Andrew, Scotland’s patron saint; along with Celtic knots, shields and crests, keys, axes, and buckles.
Luckenbooth brooches are another distinctive piece of Scottish jewellery. The brooches are strongly associated with Edinburgh and were first sold in the city around St Giles’ Cathedral in small locked booths, known as ‘luckenbuiths’ (‘locking booths’) which gave the brooch its name. Luckenbooths were traditionally made of silver or brass, set with gemstones and featured one or two hearts, sometimes set around a crown motif. Brooches which featured two hearts intertwined and forming the letter “M” were known as Queen Mary brooches. Although examples of the luckenbooth design dates back to the early 16th century they became particularly popular during the 18th and 19th centuries when they were often given as love tokens (according to legend Mary Queen of Scots gave a luckenbooth to Lord Darnley) and sometimes as a betrothal gift as we would give an engagement ring today. They were also given to ward off evil spirits, particularly to nursing mothers to protect their milk and their child from witches.
The luckenbooth pattern
To meet the high demand Scottish jewellery production later moved to England, particularly to Birmingham and Exeter, leading to new designs that were not traditionally Scottish but still nodded to the culture through symbols such as bagpipes. Eventually however, designs moved even further away from the traditional symbols to include motifs such as heart-shaped padlocks, stars, and horseshoes. The pieces of jewellery available also evolved from the traditional brooches and plaid fasteners to also include earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks and more. Jewellers also began to use fewer “pebble” stones from Scotland and instead began to source jewels from other locations such as malachite from Siberia and agates from India and Africa, some of which were not even cut in the U.K. but instead were sent to the famous cutting centre in Idar-Oberstein, Germany.
Silver and gemstone Scottish brooch
Although the popularity of Scottish jewellery persisted throughout the Victorian era and into the 20th century demand began to decline after WWI, as did the quality in the years following WWII, when it wasn’t uncommon to use glass to replace the traditional Scottish gemstones. The standard of the stones and pieces produced during this time failed to match those produced during Queen Victoria’s reign, which still remain the finest examples of traditional Scottish jewellery.