Victorian mourning jewellery auctions: jet and hair work, searched at once

Victorian mourning jewellery, worn to commemorate the dead following strict social conventions especially after Prince Albert's death, spans Whitby jet brooches and beads to intricate hair work pieces incorporating a loved one's actual hair, a genuinely poignant and specialist field that rewards buyers who can identify real jet from glass or vulcanite imitations.

Why mourning jewellery lots get missed

General sellers frequently list mourning jewellery simply as "black Victorian jewellery" without distinguishing genuine jet from imitation vulcanite or glass, so a scarce, well-preserved piece can be sitting in a listing that looks entirely ordinary.

One search across every platform

Auction Bid Assistant's free browser extension searches the-saleroom, EasyLive, Bidspotter, Invaluable, NumisBids, iCollector and LiveAuctionWorld simultaneously, alongside eBay. Search "jet brooch," "hair jewellery," or "mourning jewellery" generally and results return across all of them, with images, estimates, current bids where shown, and sale countdowns, sorted by platform in tabs.

Real results for "Victorian mourning jewellery": genuine jet brooches, a mourning crucifix pendant and vulcanite chains, found in one search.

It works by searching from inside your own browser, the same as opening and searching each site yourself, just done in seconds. Nothing is stored on our servers, permissions are minimal, and the extension never places a bid on your behalf.

Alerts: for the pieces you collect

Save a search ("jet brooch," "hair jewellery," or "mourning jewellery" generally) and get emailed the moment a new lot matches it, across all covered platforms including eBay, rather than relying on remembering to check each one.

Want to try before installing?

The same search box works on this website with no install at all for eBay, iCollector, LiveAuctionWorld and Featured Auction catalogues, a quick way to see matching mourning jewellery lots before adding the rest of the platforms via the extension.

Built for how mourning jewellery collectors actually work

Save any lot with one click from search results, export your shortlist as a printable PDF or CSV before a sale, and on the day itself the optional live bridge feeds the auctioneer's asking price into the free bid calculator, so your maximum (with buyer's premium and any applicable taxes included) is always in front of you.

Common questions