Elliemay's Vintage Jewels on Bonanzle

The Art Deco period captured geometry in its design - circles, rectangles, squares - clean, crisp shapes. Materials used in jewellery at the time included celluloid, gold, rubies, diamonds, and sterling silver. Platinum was a very luxurious material and was set with opaque stones like opals, jade and coral. Jewellery pieces were not always marked for gold and silver content. You may find a piece you think is costume and be ecstatic to find it's actually gold or platinum set with genuine diamonds!

Art Deco design is eagerly sought after by collectors. Some of the most renowned jewellery and glass designers emerged during this period: Lalique, Schiaparelli, and Coco Chanel.

Designs of the period are elegant, sophisticated and aesthetically pleasing. LInes were clean and crisp with symmetry on both sides of the design.

And, of course, the period is also famous for flappers, short dresses, jazz, and silent movies.

This is one of my favourites periods in design and I try to collect as many pieces as possible; however, it can be very expensive.

Pieces by Gustave Sherman can fetch hundreds of dollars. They are exquisitely designed and dripping with rhinestones. Sherman designed and manufactured these timeless pieces between 1947 and 1981. Sherman pieces can be signed or unsigned. He created and sold some of his pieces to large retailers such as Eatons where they were offered at affordable prices so that every woman had the opportunity to own a "Jewel of Elegance".

Hist most sought after pieces by collectors (like me!) are his rigid cuff bracelets. These particular bracelets can be 2" wide and are works of art. The average price for a rigid cuff bracelet is between $900 and $1,500 dollars.

There are very few Sherman rhinestone belts in existence and the book value of these is in the thousands of dollars. I have seen one and if I was a wealthy woman it would have been mine.

If you are a collector of vintage jewellery, then you absolutely must add a piece of Sherman to your collection.