Collecting Jewelry!

Collecting Jewelry For Everyone!

During earlier times jewelery was created for practical uses such as wealth, storage and pinning clothes together, in recent times it has been used almost exclusively for decoration. The first pieces of jewelery were made from natural materials, such as bone, animal teeth, shell, wood, and carved stone. Jewelery was often made for people of high importance to show their status and, in many cases, they were buried with it.

Jewelery has been made to adorn nearly every body part, from hairpins to toe rings and many more types of jewelery. While high-quality is made with gemstones and precious metals, there is also a growing demand for Art jewelry where design and creativity is prized above material value. In addition, there is the less-costly costume jewelery, made from less-valuable materials and mass-produced. New variations include wire sculpture (wrap) jewelery, using anything from base metal wire with rock tumbled stone to precious metals and precious gemstones.

The Hunt!

Where to find your best buys!

Although many people will tell you that you can't find anything at yard sales anymore, they are still your best source for "bargain finds". Often really nice pieces of jewelry find their way into boxes of junk jewelry because the owners don't realize what they have.

In just the past two weekends of "garage selling", I found a 14k gold ring with a large pearl in a box of "junk" marked at ten cents per piece and a 10k gold bracelet in a ziplock bag marked twenty-five cents. Gold jewelry is often mistaken for cheap jewelry because some of it looks to gaudy to be real.

Thrift shops often sell bags of jewelry for a few bucks. These bags are great for finding beads and things for making your own jewelry, but chances are pretty good that the employees have already gotten to any of the good stuff. I know! Most of these places have rules against "staff" getting first pick but it doesn't stop them.

Pawn shops are another place where you can get some decent buys. Don't figure that you're going to make a killing though! Most pawn shops know what they have and will sell it at a good price to move it, but they won't give it away.

Estate auctions can produce some great pieces but know what you are bidding on and don't get caught up in a bidding war. There'll be others there bidding on the same pieces that you want and it's easy to end up paying way to much.

Flea Markets are usually a waste of time if you're looking for bargains. You may be happy with your finds if you're looking for pieces for your own collection, but if you're looking to resell, you're in the wrong place. Most of these people who have tables set up at flea markets have "books" that tell them the so-called value of their jewelry.

Problem is that the prices in these books are usually for pieces in excellent condition and that have sold at high-end auctions or stores. The pieces at the flea markets are,(more often then not) dirty, broken, cheap knock-offs or merely similar to the ones in the book. And even though the prices reflect the "book prices", the pieces that you are looking at are only worth a fraction of this.

A Great Find!

A spot to brag about my latest finds.

I bought a shoebox full of junk jewelry at a yard sale for two bucks recently and found a necklace and two bracelets marked "Tiffany" in it!

Call me a dummy but I couldn't figure out why the necklace and one bracelet had hearts that said "Return To Tiffany" on them. So, I had to go on-line and find them in Tiffany's catalog.

It turns out that the "Return To Tiffanys" hearts are one of their best sellers, and my new necklace is listed for $350 and the bracelet for $225!

The other bracelet has a circle with twenty-six stones instead of the heart and I didn't find it in the catalog. I'm hoping the stones are diamonds but even though I list different ways to tell diamonds below, I'm still not good at identifying them. Hopefully being from Tiffanys, they are.

But, no matter, the Tiffany stuff plus a few other items made the box of "junk jewelry" a really great find. It just goes to show you that there are still some good finds out there. You just have to look for them.

Jewelry In The News!

Three Men Rob a Jewelry Store: The owner, John Turrentine said somewhere between $40000 and $80000 worth of jewelry was stolen. Aro...
Intruder flees with jewelry when confronted in home: The woman told police she found the man going through her jewelry. Harry DiViesti fled on foot with...
Leesburg Hostage Situation Ends With No Fatalities: An elderly couple in their 80s have been held hostage since 2 pm Friday after what began as a robber...
Suspects used radios, text messaging to steal carts, jewelry from ...: Investigators found stolen items, including the carts and collectible coins and jewelry, at Erickson...

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Costume Jewelry

Costume jewelry (also called fashion jewelry, junk jewelry or fake jewelry) is jewelry that is made of less valuable materials, including base metals, glass, plastic, and synthetic stones, in place of more valuable materials such as precious metals and gems. Costume jewelry is usually inexpensive, and often flashy. Its main use is in fashion, as opposed to "real" (fine) jewelry which may be regarded primarily as collectibles, keepsakes, or investments.

Originally, costume or fashion jewelry was made of inexpensive simulated gemstones, such as rhinestones or lucite, set in pewter, nickel or brass. Modern costume jewelry incorporates a wide range of materials. High end crystals, CZs or cubic zirconia simulated diamonds, and some semi-precious stones are used in place of precious stones. Metals include gold- or silver-plated brass, and sometimes vermeil or sterling silver. Lower-priced jewelry may still use gold plating over pewter, nickel or other metals; items made in countries outside the United States may contain lead. Some pieces incorporate plastic, acrylic, or wood.

Vintage Jewelry Tips and Information!

Estate Jewelry

Estate jewelry, also known as vintage jewelry, is a fashion trend for the new millennium. Stores selling this jewelry are becoming more common in the United States. Vintage jewelry can range from inexpensive to highly costly, but the act of collecting such jewelry is enjoyable for enthusiasts.

Jewelry which is termed 'vintage' includes many decades or eras. Each era has many different designs. These eras include Georgian, Early Victorian, Mid-Victorian, Late Victorian, Arts and Crafts era, Art Nouveau, Edwardian, Art Deco and Retro.

Jewelry on eBay

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List Of Jewellery Types

This list of jewellery types is a listing of most types of jewellery made.

Anklet: An anklet, ankle chain, or ankle bracelet, is an ornament worn around the ankle.
Armlet: An arm ring, also known as an armlet or an armband, is a band of metal, usually a precious metal, worn as an ornament around the biceps of the upper arm.
Bangles: Bangles are ornaments worn mainly by women, but men may also choose to wear, on their arms and wrists.
Barefoot sandals: Barefoot sandals are Western colloquialism for Indian jewelery worn primarily as jewelery rather than as footwear.
Body piercing jewelery: Body piercing jewelery is jewelery manufactured specifically for use in body piercing. Originally hardly any other jewelry than circular earrings were used in modern Western body piercing.
Bracelet: A bracelet is an article of jewelry which is worn around the wrist.
Brooch: A brooch (also known in ancient times as a fibula, and not to be confused with broach) is a decorative jewelry item designed to be attached to garments.
Cameo: Cameo is a method of carving, or an item of jewellery or vessel made in this manner. It features a raised (positive) relief image.
Chatelaine: Chatelaine is a decorative belt hook or clasp worn at the waist with a series of chains suspended from it.
Choker: A choker is a tight-fitting necklace, worn high on the neck. This type of jewelry can consist of one or more bands circling the neck.
Circlet: A circlet is a crown with neither arches nor a cap (internal covering).
Coronet: A coronet is a small crown consisting of ornaments fixed on a metal ring. Unlike a crown, a coronet never has arches.
Crowns: A crown is the traditional symbolic form of headgear worn by a monarch or by a deity.
Cuff link: A cufflink is a decorative fastener worn by men or women to fasten the two sides of the cuff on a dress shirt or blouse.
Diadem: A diadem is also a jeweled ornament worn by women with the shape of a half crown, placed over the forehead (in this sense, also called tiara).
Earrings: An earring is a piece of jewelry that is worn on the ear. They are worn by both sexes, although until recently in western cultures, they were more typically worn by women.
Hairpins: A hair pin or hairpin is a long device used to hold a person's hair in place. Hairpins made of metal, ivory, bronze, carved wood, etc. were used in ancient Assyria and Egypt for securing decorated hairstyles.
Locket: A locket is a pendant that opens to reveal a space used for storing a photograph or other small item such as a curl of hair.
Mouth Grills: In hip hop culture, a grill or front is a type of bling jewelry worn over the teeth.
Necklace: A necklace is an article of jewelry which is worn around the neck.
Nose-jewels: Nose-jewels are ornaments worn in one of the sides of the nostrils.
Pendant: A pendant is a hanging object, generally attached to a necklace or an earring.
Rings: A ring is a band worn as type of ornamental jewellery around a finger; Other types of metal bands worn as ornaments are also called rings, such as arm rings and neck rings.
Tiara
Toe ring: A toe ring is a ring made out of various metals and non-metals worn on any of the toes.

Silver Jewelry Hallmarks

The Hallmark for sterling silver varies from nation to nation.

In some countries, such as the United States, no national hallmark was ever adopted, although the city of Baltimore did maintain its own assay office between 1814-1830. The words "STERLING", "925", or "coin" were simply stamped into the piece. Because of this, some companies within the U.S., such as Tiffany and Gorham, adopted their own marking systems. For example, pieces from the Gorham company can be identified by a Lion Passant (or Lion Rampant, depending on the year), an anchor and the letter "G", and sometimes an accompanying number to indicate the style.

In addition to the hallmarks, silver manufacturers often applied their own specific stamp. For example, the letters "T. and Co." indicates a piece manufactured by Tiffany and Company. As mentioned above, the letter "G" indicated the Gorham Company. These stamps were as unique as today's logos, and disputes often arose when one company copied another's stamp.

Fine silver is 99.9% silver or better. This grade of silver is used to make bullion bars for international commodities trading. In the modern world Fine Silver is understood to be too soft for general use.

Britannia silver is purer than sterling, at least 95.84% silver and up to 4.16% copper. Its marks were Britannia and a lion's head in profile.

The Britannia standard was a standard of plate obligatory in Britain between 1697 and 1720 to try to help prevent British sterling silver coins from being melted to make plate. It became an optional standard thereafter, and in the United Kingdom and Ireland is now denoted by the millesimal fineness hallmark "958", with the symbol of Britannia being applied optionally.

Mexican silver is also purer than sterling, usually 95% Silver and 5% Copper. Mexico is the only country currently using silver in its circulating coinage, but these coins are not minted from 95% "Mexican" Silver. Much of the currently produced silver jewelry and other decorative silver objects made in Mexico at the present time are made according to the Sterling, i.e. 92.5% silver, standard, and are marked "Sterling".

Coin silver is most commonly 90% silver and 10% copper as dictated by United States FTC guidelines. "Coin Silver" is said to have acquired its name because much of it was made from melting down silver coins, which are generally of the 90% standard. This does allow for some variation in the silver content, depending on which coinage was used to create the silver stock.

Coin silver is usually lower in silver content than sterling. The Coin standard came into common use for table silver in the US during the 1820s, and lasted until 1868. This grade of silver was used in the silver coinage of the US, (until 1964) and also by other countries that minted silver currency , such as Panama and the Philippines.

German silver (not to be confused with nickel silver, which is also referred to by this same term) are several silver standards used in Germany. However, the most common standard for silverware and decorative silver objects is the 800 standard (80% pure silver). Hence, when the term German silver is used, it is usually referred to as the 800 standard. Another silver standard in use is the 900 standard. German silver objects are usually marked with an "800" or "900" to show the standard to which they are made. The UK Assay offices also recognise the 80% silver content which is legally represented by the 800 stamp.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Books On Jewelry

Collecting Costume Jewelry 202: The Basics of Dating Jewelry

by: Julia C. Carroll

Amazon Price: $16.47 (as of 07/12/2009)

Cameos: Classical to Costume (Schiffer Book for Collectors)

by: Monica Lynn Clements, Patricia Rosser Clements

Amazon Price: $59.95 (as of 07/12/2009)

Costume Jewelry (DK Collector's Guides)

by: Judith Miller, John Wainwright

Amazon Price: (as of 07/12/2009)

Collecting Costume Jewelry 101: The Basics of Starting, Building and Upgrading (Identification & Value Guide)

by: Julia C. Carroll

Amazon Price: (as of 07/12/2009)

Antique Jewelry: 6th Edition (Official Price Guide to Antique Jewelry)

by: Arthur Guy Kaplan

Amazon Price: (as of 07/12/2009)

Jewelry is a personal ornament, such as a necklace, ring, or bracelet, made from jewels, precious metals or other substance.

Although in earlier times jewelry was created for more practical uses, such as wealth storage and pinning clothes together, in recent times it has been used almost exclusively for decoration. The first pieces of jewelry were made from natural materials, such as bone, animal teeth, shell, wood, and carved stone. Jewelry was often made for people of high importance to show their status and, in many cases, they were buried with it.

Jewelry is made out of almost every material known and has been made to adorn nearly every body part, from hairpins to toe rings and many more types of jewelry. While high-quality is made with gemstones and precious metals, there ia also a growing demand for Art jewelry where design and creativity is prized above material value. In addition there is the less-costly costume jewelry is made from less-valuable materials and is mass-produced. New variations include wire sculpture (wrap) jewelry, using anything from base metal wire with rock tumbled stone to precious metals and precious gemstones.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Collecting Jewelry!