This $130 Brooch Tells the Story of a Lost Scottish Steamer

By Annie Davidson Watson | June 30, 2026

An unassuming gold brooch (pictured) that turned up at a recent WeBuyVintage road show in Lancashire, England, has a backstory substantial enough to interest maritime historians.

The jewel was presented on April 21, 1894, by shipping magnate William Robertson to Elizabeth McIntyre Anderson, believed to have been the first person to board the SS Citrine for its maiden voyage. It’s engraved on back with the date and both of their names.

The brooch features a few nautical motifs: rope and a life preserver, both rendered in gold at the center of the brooch, which is set with a citrine stone, in a nod to the ship’s name.

brooch back — *The inscription on the reverse side of the brooch*

Robertson was a significant figure in U.K. shipping. Starting with a single barge in 1852, he built Glasgow’s Gem Line into one of Britain’s largest coastal bulk shipping fleets, with nearly 50 vessels, and played a central role in modernizing Scotland’s coal, ore, and limestone trade through the adoption of steam power.

The Citrine, one of several Gem Line ships named for gemstones, was built in Dundee by W.B. Thompson & Co.—a shipyard with its own place in Scottish industrial history, as it evolved into the prominent Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Co.

Things did not end well for the Citrine itself. On March 17, 1931, it struck rocks at Bradda Head on the Isle of Man and sank, killing nine of the ship’s 11 crewmen. Robertson had died more than a decade earlier, and Gem Line was then being run by his sons.

SS Citrine — *An archival image of the SS* Citrine

WeBuyVintage valued the piece at a modest £100, about $133. It had stayed in Anderson’s family; the person who brought it to the show for appraisal said it had been passed down from his late wife’s uncle.

“It is a rare and poignant survivor of Scotland’s maritime history,” said Matt Case, WeBuyVintage specialist, in a statement. The brooch’s owner said he plans to put the proceeds toward upgrading his motorhome.

(Photos courtesy of WeBuyVintage)

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