Brooch

By the 1850s the jewellery trade had been transformed by consumer demand and technological innovation. Traditional techniques such as casting, chasing and engraving continued in high fashion pieces, but newer industrial methods created cheaper products for a mass market.

Flatted gold, rolled through machinery to a very thin sheet, could be stamped to make multiple standard components. Through the use of stamped collets, even the setting of gemstones required less handwork.

The expansion of the jewellery trade in Britain also benefited from the legalisation of three lower standards of gold alloys in 1854.