Wow did hose Victorians deal with an awful lot of death: plague, pestilence, poverty, and a general lack of hygiene.

The point is people popped their clogs just for fun – one moment they’re chucking their bucket of waste out the window onto the cobbles below, the next, well, they’ve shuffled off the old mortal coil.

And with the prevalence of folk carking it, it followed there was an impressive trend for mourning jewellery. Think Whitby jet, vulcanite, black enamel, hair work, sepias and such like.

And that’s what this brooch is; a piece made in remembrance of some poor devil who croaked, and probably well prior to the optimal age for perishment, if that’s even a word?!

Lucky for us though black & gold is super chic. So you can don this epic brooch and feel blummin’ cheerful about how dapper you are!