Snow Day Gone Sideways

While "snowed-in" today, I thought I'd try and force myself to work on more jewelry.  I just wasn't feeling it though, and as every other time when I've tried to push, ended up making more mistakes than progress.  However, this little piece did come together.  It's a bit rough/marked-up to sell; but as I like delicate little jewelry pieces, I decided to finish it with a 1920's rhinestone bow tie box clasp, and just keep it.  It also doesn't bother me to mix sterling silver with old vintage/antique components like this.

I have some loose ideas and pieces, I just can't quite seem to get them together in my mind in a way that makes me happy.  :-/  

For those of you who do buy jewelry sometimes, I have a question:

How do you feel about mixing metals like this?  If I had an awesome 80-100 year old jewelry component that was in good condition (like this fancy clasp), would it bother you mixing it with sterling silver and real gemstones?  Or would you rather that the two be kept separate, and that vintage jewelry elements only be used in vintage jewelry upcycling?