Blog — steampunk

The excavation of ancient sites in Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Egypt in the mid 1700s influenced art, jewelry and fashion from Italy to England. Carved jasper, onyx, carnelian and shell became popular with the revival of Classical themes.    When Napoleon placed ancient Roman cameos on his 1804 coronation crown, he began a trend that has continued to the present day. Greek, Roman, and Etruscan symbols including serpents, crescents, carved stone signets and mythological gods appeared in jewelry from 1830 - 1900.    At the 1851 Great Exhibition in London, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert received the first mechanical keyless wind watches,...

We are in a brief break between summer Compass Rose Jewelry shows and I wanted to take a moment to talk about an interesting trend we observed early this year when people started donating their antiques to us. It's easier to get rid of stuff when we know it's going to a good home. We all have drawers of once-sentimental keepsakes waiting to be discovered! Earlier this year at the Edwardian Ball, a customer purchased a necklace one day and returned the next day with a box of unfinished medals – “junk in a drawer to her pure treasure to...

History is at the center of our work at Compass Rose Design. Lately, we've had trains on the brain and have been making lots of men's accessories with Railroad date nails and antique uniform buttons dating between 1880 and 1950. A few finds relating to San Francisco railroad history have been a delight!We've recently come across several antiques that have local historical significance. Notice the PPIE 1915 buttons in the above photo. These buttons commemorate the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exhibition - the Worlds Fair. Though the exhibition celebrated the completion of the Panama Canal, the event was perhaps more...