Antique Turquoise Charm
These antique turquoise charm pieces bring vibrant blue colour and rich period detail to any collection, offering wearable history through Victorian and Edwardian craftsmanship.
Antique Turquoise Charm
When you search for an antique turquoise charm, you encounter a selection of jewellery items spanning the Victorian, Edwardian, and mid twentieth-century eras. The category encompasses gold and silver pendants, lockets, and novelties designed to hold sentimental value.
You are most likely to meet small gold or silver charms and pendants incorporating turquoise stones, often paired with seed pearls, diamonds, or enamel work. These items frequently take symbolic forms such as hearts, lovers knots, horseshoes, and eggs.
How they were made
Makers utilised precious metals including nine carat gold, fifteen carat yellow gold, sterling silver, and gilded toleware to construct the structural settings for these miniature works. Metalwork techniques range from delicate filigree wirework to solid casting and propellor mechanisms.
Gemstones such as turquoise cabochons, rose cut diamonds, and seed pearls are hand-set into gold and silver mounts, occasionally complemented by vibrant blue enamel applied to egg and pendant bodies.
Antique Turquoise Charm Retail Price Guide 2026
Typical asking prices for turquoise charm among the pieces listed under this phrase on Sellingantiques today, from the lower quarter to the upper quarter. They describe what is for sale here now, not the wider market.
Listings feature items incorporating nine carat gold, fifteen carat yellow gold, silver, turquoise, seed pearls, diamonds, and enamel.
What varies in quality
The sophistication of the metalwork and the precision of stone setting separate standard examples from finer pieces. Superior items display intricate filigree, high carat gold content, and well-matched natural turquoise stones without matrix disruption.
Design complexity also defines the upper tier, where combined elements like seed pearls, diamonds, and enamel work are integrated harmoniously into symbolic motifs like forget-me-nots and double hearts.
Deakin & Francis
The Antique Turquoise Charm Glossary
- Cabochon
- A gemstone shaped and polished with a smooth convex top rather than faceted edges. This method highlights the natural colour and texture of opaque stones.
- Seed pearl
- A very small natural or cultured pearl, often half-drilled and glued or pegged onto a setting. They appear frequently in cluster arrangements alongside turquoise.
- Filigree
- Ornamental work consisting of fine wire twisted and soldered together in open patterns. It creates a lace-like metallic effect on silver and gold mountings.
- Toleware
- Enamelled or lacquered metalware, typically tin or steel, finished with decorative painting. This technique appears on larger decorative items rather than personal jewellery.
- Lovers knot
- A decorative knot formed of two intertwined cords symbolising unbreakable attachment. Jewelters rendered this motif in rose gold and yellow gold during the Victorian period.
Antique Turquoise Charm: Frequently Asked Questions
What periods do these pieces date from?
The items span from the Victorian and Edwardian eras through to the early twentieth century, with dates reaching up to the nineteen fifties.
Most pieces belong to the nineteenth century, showcasing characteristic nineteenth-century motifs and metal compositions.
How were these charms originally worn?
Owners typically suspended these items from chatelaines, charm bracelets, or delicate neck chains as personal talismans.
Many double as lockets or pendants, allowing them to function both close to the heart and on the wrist.
What motifs appear on these charms?
Popular symbolic forms include forget-me-nots, horseshoes, hearts, lover's knots, and decorative eggs.
These shapes carried deep sentimental meaning during the Victorian and Edwardian periods.
What materials accompany the turquoise?
Golds in various carat weights, sterling silver, rose gold, and gilded toleware provide the foundational structure for the stones.
Accents of seed pearls, rose cut diamonds, and coloured enamel frequently enhance the turquoise focal points.