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jewelry glossary

Antique jewelry glossary

Welcome to our extensive antique jewelry glossary with around 1,500 jewelry related entries.If you feel you are missing an explanation, feel free to let us know and we will add it.

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Safety pin

A type of metal fastener in the form of a pin that originally was bent 180° so that the point was held in a catch-plate, but later was bent, first in a complete turn and then 180°, which resulted in a small spring that, by tension, more securely held the point in the catch-plate. Such pieces were the precursor of the fibula and of the modern safety pin.

Modern examples have a guard over the catch-plate, which protects the user from being pricked.

The safety pin has four parts:

  • The acus (the pin)
  • The spring (or a springless joint)
  • The bow (the part that joins the springs with the catch)
  • The catch-plate

Some modern examples are made of gold, to be used as a collar pin or, in larger size, to fasten a Scottish kilt.

From: An Illustrated Dictionary of Jewelry, autor: Harold Newman, publishers: Thames and Hudson

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