Flea market this weekend: $2 for all of this, which included a long strand of pretty magazine strip beads, 2 Monopoly playing pieces, a tiny monkey stickpin, 2 funky brooches, a bakelite clasp, 3 hearts, a cross, a strand of "pearls" AND a a faux turquoise earring. I'm going to have fun incorporating this into junque jewelry!
The bread box was sitting in my in-laws' barn and while they looked at me like I was crazy, they said I could have it. Free!!!!
OK--now for the really good stuff. First off, this beautiful brooch with lots and lots of crystal rhinestones and one blue rhinestone in the middle. 
This pin is marcasite with the wonderful word "STERLING" stamped on the back, although the jeweler said it might mean a sterling overlay rather than solid silver. Perfect condition when I bought it at a flea market.
Now we're getting to true incredibleness. Again, it was missing a few clear rhinestones, but even before they were replaced this was breathtaking. The jeweler was even in awe!
I bought this crab pin because it was so cute, but I felt
This pin is marcasite with the wonderful word "STERLING" stamped on the back, although the jeweler said it might mean a sterling overlay rather than solid silver. Perfect condition when I bought it at a flea market.
Now we're getting to true incredibleness. Again, it was missing a few clear rhinestones, but even before they were replaced this was breathtaking. The jeweler was even in awe!
I bought this crab pin because it was so cute, but I felt
it prudent to confirm with the jeweler that, no, those weren't rubies (damn). The rest of the stones are clear rhinestones, not marcasite--picture's not as clear as it could be.
Well, after doing some research on it, I think it might be more than cute. Utilizing both my reading glasses and a magnifying glass, I found the letters KTF on the back of one of the crab's legs. I did a Google search and found that: "The first TRIFARI mark, from 1925 through 1937, was KTF. From 1937 forward, TRIFARI with a crown over the T was used, with a copyright symbol being added in 1955." (courtesy Milky Way Jewels' website, among others). So what I have is a TRIFARI pin that's at least 72 years old. My problem now is that I can't find any information on this particular pin--I've put search words every which way onto Google and I've yet to find anyone with THIS pin. I wish Antiques Roadshow was somewhere in the area because I'm totally convinced this is a one-of-a-kind Trifari pin and it would sell at auction for some astronomical sum and I would probably say "Well, f**k me naked!" right there on public tv AND faint or throw up or something. On the other hand, with my luck this is a fake and we'll just go back to me having a cute FAKE Trifari pin. I'm going to keep researching this until I know one way or the other.
