Enamel Lapel Pin

Enamel pins begin as a flat metal shape stamped or cast with raised outlines, and color is filled into the wells between those lines. The finish tells you which process you paid for. Soft enamel stops below the ridge line, so a fingertip feels the metal outlines and the surface carries texture. Hard enamel is overfilled, then ground and polished level with the metal, giving a glassy face that resists scratching and costs more per piece.

Metal underneath matters just as much. Die struck pins are stamped from sheet under pressure, which gives crisp outlines and a dense feel at 0.5 to 1.5 mm thick. Cast pins are poured into a mold, carry softer detail and often more weight for the same size. Printed pins skip enamel altogether, laying artwork under a clear epoxy dome that yellows in sunlight over a couple of years. Plating on any of these is measured in microns and wears through first at raised edges. Gold tone pins turn coppery at the high points before anywhere else.

Sizing sits between 0.75 and 1.5 inches for nearly everything sold, because a lapel offers about that much clear space before the pin crowds the notch. Larger designs belong on a jacket back or a bag. One post is standard and one post lets a wide design swing sideways all day, so look for two posts on anything past about 1.25 inches across.

Put next to a cluster brooch, which is judged on stones and settings, an enamel pin is judged on line quality and on whether the color sits inside its outlines. Bar pins and stick pins pierce with a stem and can go almost anywhere on a garment. This style needs a spot you can reach from behind to fit the clutch, which rules out a lined coat panel and most bags with a sewn in lining.

Look across the face at a low angle for pits and sunken color, both signs of underfilled enamel that will chip at the edge within a season. Throw away the rubber clutch that arrives in the packet, since rubber hardens and splits inside a year, and fit a locking back on anything you would be sorry to lose. Clean the surface with a barely damp cloth only, as solvents dull soft enamel and lift printed artwork under a dome.