marcasite love

When I was first starting to get into the world of antique jewelry, a lot of my first purchases were vintage marcasite sterling silver jewelry because it was all I could really afford at the time.  To this day, I still love these pieces.  You get a whole lot packed into one piece of jewelry (beautiful metal patina with age, a lot of sparkle, and great design and craftmanship) for a very reasonable price!  Even in my recent searches I am surprised at how low many of these pieces are selling for!  (All items featured above are for sale on etsy for under $50!  Ring from here, earrings from here, and pendant from here.)  Interesting fact, "marcasite" jewelry does not contain the mineral marcasite, which is too brittle for use in jewelry, and is actually composed of the mineral pyrite.