In today’s blog, I am going to show you some lovely pieces of jewellery made from mother of pearl. Mother of pearl is the smooth iridescent lining of certain types of molluscs, such as the pearl oyster, freshwater pearl mussels, nautilus and the abalone, as well as some snails like Turbinidae (green turban snails), and the Trochidae (top snails). Their shells produce overlapping layers of nacre which are of different thicknesses. Light reflects off these different layers resulting in shimmering colours. In some circumstances, pearls develop from this nacre, hence, it is said, the reason why nacre is described as mother of pearl.

Mother of pearl has been used for centuries for decoration and for jewellery. One of its keys uses, starting in the 17th century, was as buttons.  Broome, in Australia, had a thriving button industry from the 1860s until WWII when plastics took over.

Victorian mother of pearl brooch with gold frame

The first piece of jewellery, above, is a striking Victorian brooch with a curved heart-shaped mother of pearl panel set in the centre, and a gold border of vine leaves and tendrils. There is a gold central plaque with a red stone.

The second piece, below, is an early Victorian necklace consisting of carved mother of pearl flowers sewed to a brocade ribbon. It is possibly a necklace worn at a wedding by a bride.

Victorian mother of pearl necklace

The gold insect brooch in the photo at the top of the post is Victorian and has a mother of pearl abdomen and wings and thorax set with sapphires, peridots and amethysts, and eyes set with garnets.

Spectacular Monies mother of pearl collar

The final piece is modern, a magnificent collar by Monies, a high end Danish jewellery house that specializes in handmade jewellery made from natural and organic materials. The mother of pearl pieces are cream and gold. The collar can be worn so that the curved pieces sit up to frame the neck or flat so it looks like a lace collar.