Hair clips such as this one would have been worn by women in the 19th and early 20th centuries and would have been used to keep back long hair from around the face. Similar clips may be used today but they would more likely be made of plastic or ornamented metal. This hair clip has no known provenance but is an attractive item and is retained for display purposes.This is a curved shell (perhaps tortoise shell) hair clip with an ornamental fretwork pattern in the centre. A metal piece, slightly curved, is attached to the clip with a screw. vintage hair clips, history of warrnambool

Sarah Coventry Pty. Ltd. was a North American jewellery company that was established in 1949 by the Stuart family as part of Emmons Jewelry, Inc. It began operations in England and Australia in 1968, and in Australia it moved from Carlton in Melbourne to Wodonga in 1969. The premises were originally on High St. in Wodonga, but a new warehouse was built in Melbourne Rd. later in 1969. It was a direct selling jewellery business using a party-plan model similar to Tupperware and Avon. The sales reps or 'Hostesses' were provided with jewellery samples in demonstration kits, which they displayed at jewellery parties in their homes. The designs for jewellery such as brooches, necklaces, earrings, chokers and bracelets were purchased from freelance designers and jewellery manufacturers rather than in-house designers. In 1979 Sarah Coventry Pty. Ltd. in Wodonga was bought by three Australian businessmen, including Wodonga local Jim Sawyer, and continued to sell jewellery under the name "Sargem Pty. Ltd”, for several more years in the 1980s. As part of the Sarah Coventry collection, the hair clip has local significance with the decentralised commercial development of regional centres such as Wodonga in NE Victoria, as well as national and international significance from the perspective of social and economic developments for women after World War II. The direct selling party-plan business model Sarah Coventry was based on is also considered the first of its kind for jewellery.Gold toned metal hair clip with a circular enamel inlay with a flower petal motif surrounded by five green dots."SARAH" - thought to be first used in 1951 on the back of the circular decorative element.sarah coventry, jewellery, wodonga, costume jewellery, vintage fashion jewellery, hair clip, hair slide