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Overview
This 'sweetheart' brooch is an example of an intimate wartime souvenir. Such brooches and pendants were made by Second World War servicemen as keepsakes to be sent home to sweethearts, wives and families.
It is also significant because of its use of a new material. During the 1930s, due to its shatterproof properties, perspex had begun to replace glass in medical instruments, and was used on aeroplanes and by automobile manufacturers. During the war acrylic glass was used for submarine periscopes, and windshields, canopies, and gun turrets for planes (such as the cockpit canopy for the Second World War fighter aircraft Supermarine Spitfire).
Manufacture of souvenirs and costume jewellery using metal and perspex from crashed or damaged aircraft was a popular pastime for Royal New Zealand Air Force personnel in New Zealand or while on active service overseas during the war. The perspex of this brooch was probably from the cockpit canopy of a crashed or damaged Second World War aircraft. The metal insignia (brass or gilt) is cut from an RNZAF uniform button.