sweet heart pins

[mark pearson]

hi guys .

If this is the wrong place for my qeury I apologise to the mods, perhaps they would be so kind as to put me in the correct place.

I have just been given what appears to be a brooch and was described as a "sweethearts pin or brooch and have been led to believe that it could be old enough to have been made at the time of the great war . It is round, about 27mm in diameter with a 'real' silver rim but no halmarks, a corrugated backing of (possibly) mother of pearl and miniture cap badge of the 10th Royal Hussars with the regiments name on a blue coloured scroll. the back is of a plain metal possibly a sliver coated brass/bronze.

The only other one for the 10H I have seen, was where the cap badge was set on a long horizontal type pin and looked more modern than mine.

Have any other members come across such trinkets and is it possible to determine a rough period of manufature from the design decribed.

As a member of the 10 hussars newest decendent regiment, the KRH, it is of great personal interest.

It is unlikely that I will be able to meet any family members of the person who gave me the item and he feels that there is no one left to provide any history, any help in the right direction from members would be appreciated.

Best wishes

Percy

[bierlijn]

I'm not going to be much help here, but have seen many different 'sweetheart broaches' to the Royal Naval Division, which were undoubtably manufactured during the Great War. Some silver ones are hallmarked, usually 1915-17. Some are merely stamped as 'Silver'. Were these foreign made?

I was wondering how these were sold at the time. Did shops set up with great ranges of broach for each of the units? There are obviously cheap ones, and proper silversmith work. Surely not offered in the same shops. One would guess that sale of these things ended with the war and thus manufacture stopped too. Was there a revival in WW2?

Hugh

[johnreed]

My wife has two of these Sweetheart Broaches one for the London Irish Rifles and the other Kings Royal Rifle Corps she wears these every time we go to Belgium in remembrance of her two Great Uncles who wre K.I.A. in France and Flanders.

John

[Staffsyeoman]

Sweetheart pins are unofficial and can therefore take many forms, made to fit many pockets. The type you describe sound like a fairly common one to me. They can range from the almost ineffably crude to miniature works of art (a jewellers near me has a Royal Artillery badge in gold, diamonds and enamel, beautifully done - but £850... and a Victorian KRRC one in gold and enamels that my better half would love, but no visible price tag and I quail to ask). I am away from notes, but there is a series of small paperbacks covering the subject that are worth a look.

[jimmyboy]

i have a small set of raf wings hanging from 2 joined hearts with a pin on back ,with the words , mizpah on one heart and a small love poem on the other, i guess this would be classed as a sweetheart pin?

[tony paley]

Happy New Year Perc.

I believe there are collectors of 'sweetheart badges'. I have an RA example worn by my Mother in WW2. They are still available and I have seen examples in respect of the current regiments advertised in service periodicals. Most of them seem to be made up of white or yellow metal and enamel, very collectable.

Tony P

[HarryBettsMCDCM]

. Some silver ones are hallmarked, usually 1915-17. Some are merely stamped as 'Silver'. Were these foreign made?

I was wondering how these were sold at the time. Did shops set up with great ranges of broach for each of the units? One would guess that sale of these things ended with the war and thus manufacture stopped too. Was there a revival in WW2?

Some marked "Silver" may be Foriegn made however as they were Cheap @ the time to avoid the cost of Hallmaking they were merely stamped "SILVER or Sterling" If You look at contemporary Newspapers of WW1 & Post War you will find varying ads from the period offeringh these Brooches of varying quality from base metal to Gem encrusted gold beauties from a few pennies to around a few pounds {a week or sos wage for a junior Officer} They continue to this day in varying forms though probably not so prolific,a QE2 Crowned Gold RAF Pilot's Brevet will always find a Buyer!!'as I am sure would any of todays condensed Uniots!!