Saphiret glass mounted in metal buttons

Buttons set with Saphiret stones date from the turn of the 19th century. This type of glass was created in Gablonz by adding gold to pale blue glass, which then becomes dichroic, showing both coppery red and sapphire blue colors.

The first one is claw-set strass (Strass is brilliant lead glass perfected by Josef Strass for whom it was named) and saphiret stones mounted in gilt brass. Both buttons date late 1800’s to before 1918.

Both of these buttons are much nicer than the image shows