Object of the Day: A Toothsome Stickpin

Among the surprises under the Christmas tree for me this year was this handsome Victorian stickpin. An unusually long gold shaft has been set with a shimmering tooth. We’re not quite sure from what kind of creature the tooth came, but it’s certainly a pointy, vicious-looking chomper.


English gentlemen in the Victorian era often wore jewelry set with teeth. This trend was made fashionable by Prince Albert who frequently had the teeth of the animals that he hunted set into jewelry as gifts for friends and family. If we think about it, using teeth in jewelry, while it sounds strange to our Twenty-first Century ears, is no more unusual than using pearls. Pearls are also a biological creation from the interior of a creature. And, some teeth, such as this one, are just as attractive as any pearl.