Black Glass Button Earrings, Sterling Silver, Victorian Glass, Rope Border, Dark Academia, Upcycled Jewelry

Black glass, pressed with a raised design - floral or three-leafed, the motif is old enough that its exact meaning has been lost - and set against bright sterling silver in a contrast that the Victorians would have understood immediately. Black glass buttons like these were often made in the mourning tradition, when jet and its many imitators became the acceptable face of grief made visible.

Black glass buttons were in great demand during the Victorian Era. Queen Victoria famously mourned her husband for forty years, and the rest of England followed. Victorians had great interest in art, history, design, flowers, and symbolism, so almost anything could be translated to these tiny whimsies with which they adorned themselves. This one is set in a sterling silver bezel and wrapped in a twisted rope border.

Glass buttons began to be silvered, or "lustered" in the late 1800s as an alternative to the by-then ubiquitous black glass button. The lustered buttons twinkled wonderfully in fire- or candlelight, as the Victorians had no electricity.

Earrings measure 1 inch (2.5 cm) long from top of ear wire to bottom of circle, and just under ½ inch (1.3 cm) wide. Smaller than a US dime. Total weight is 4.7 grams. Hallmarked Blue Piranha and .925.

Your purchase arrives gift boxed, presented in a soft pouch with a story card.

Good for: the friend who wears black, reads widely, and notices small things. A gift for someone who would rather have something old and specific than new and obvious. A thoughtful keepsake for the person whose aesthetic runs deep and doesn't need explaining.

Questions? Please message me. I'm happy to help.

About the buttons:

The "humble" button was once not-so-humble. Buttons are actually the earliest form of adornment, sewn onto garments as decoration before they had practical use as fasteners. They were once considered works of art.

Many buttons I come across are dusty and languishing in cardboard boxes or mason jars. I set them into precious metals and allow them to live a new life, with those who cherish the magic of past eras.

Victorian buttons take two forms: molded glass, and what are known as picture buttons, or pictorials. Each pictorial has a specific image, often flowers, birds, or other natural forms. These buttons are comprised of several parts, often three to five layers, which would have been hand-assembled in the 19th century. They're beautiful relics of a time long past.

The more colorful buttons are 1950s Czech glass, and are no longer made. These are known as "Moonglow" buttons, due to layering a dome of clear glass over a colored satin glass underlayer. Together the two layers create a sort of "cat's-eye" effect, with subtle shifts as the buttons catch the light. They had a short production window from about the early 1950s to the 1960s, when they were displaced by lighter weight (and less expensive) plastic buttons.