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Vintage Jewellery Update
Posted by: | CommentsThe latest Vintage Jewellery news update from AntiquesAvenue.co.uk for the middle of July.
Summer is here and I cant believe how busy the shop is. A big THANK YOU to all my lovely customers . Selling lots of Antique Jewellery and Vintage Jewellery means that I am able to obtain a much wider choice for you and continue to offer great value including free postage world wide. Remember as well your Jewellery comes either in a box or bag (Occasionally both) . I suggest that you store your piece in the box or bag I post your jewel in . This will prevent wear from other pieces in your jewel box.
Antique Brooch
Fresh Stocks of Vintage Jewellery
A usual I have been busy adding lots more original vintage jewellery to the shop. Today I have been adding bracelets and antique brooches. There is a superb antique rose cut diamond necklace and plenty of costume jewellery for collectors .
I’m adding about 50 items a week at the moment and I suggest that you check back regularly . Recently I have had a couple of special pieces sell within less than a day of putting them on the site.
New Website Design
Exciting for me, by the end of August AntiquesAvenue.co.uk will have a new professional website and logo. For the past few years I’ve been struggling with this myself and have decided that its time to hand this work over to the professionals giving me more time to concentrate on the antique and vintage jewellery . Hopefully the site will be more attractive easier to use for you too.
Please dont be surprised if you come back in a few weeks and the look of the site is changed. I will have at least one special offer to coincide with the launch new look shop and will give details of this and the exact launch date next month.
In the mean time I am re-organising the categories ready for the new design. You can now find all Brooches in a Brooches Section, Bracelets in a Bracelets section, Rings in a ring Section without having to visit other parts of the shop. All men’s Jewellery is now in one area with tick pins, Lapel Pins, Albert’s , Albertina’s, Fobs and Cuff links under the Men’s Jewellery Section.
Pendant necklace
A polite request
As regular readers know I am happy to take a quick look at photos of your jewellery and offer an opinion on it if possible. I do not charge for this service. Please however I would really appreciate it if you:
i) Please contact me either by e.mail or leave a comment here on this blog for such help – I will get back to you as soon as I can and certainly within two or three days. I cant help over the phone a I need to see a photo.
ii) Do not ask me to value your item, valuations is a specialist skill and takes a lot of time to do properly. After all imagine if I give out a free valuation and get it wrong by a considerable amount. This could affect you badly and I dont want that responsibility. For a valuation I suggest you either contact your local auction house or one of the paid for valuation services on the Internet.
iii) Have good quality .jpg photographs of items you wish me to take a look at.
iv) If a piece has UK hallmarks you can look these up for yourself either on the Internet or from a Book such as Bradburys book of Hallmarks.
V) Sorry but I do not wish to buy jewels. Buying privately is not something I am comfortable with as I have to verify identities to ensure that pieces are not stolen and I have to add quite a large % to the price I pay in order to cover costs. You could try selling on eBay or taking your piece to your local auciton house who will sell jewellery for you.
AntiquesAvenue Blog
Still working through my A-Z of Jewellery Materials and have just about exhausted the letter G. coming over the next few weeks antique jewellery materials beginning with the letter H: Hair and Hematite. Perhaps a few more will spring to mind?
You’ve probably noticed I’ve a new picture banner at the top of the page, I think it adds a bit of colour and shows the sort of thing this blog is about.
I’m starting to put together a series of articles on how to run your own antiques business drawing on my experiences of giving up a secure career to follow my dream. This should have a few useful insights for anyone wanting to move into selling antiques, Vintage or Reto items. Many of the basics are the same if you choose to be a general antiques dealer or specialise in one aspect of the trade such as Antique Jewellery. Over the past 20 years I’ve tried most ways to buy and sell antiques and vintage and I’m going to share my knowledge here so pop back soon.
Happy Hunting
Anne X
Affordable Antique and Vintage Diamond Jewellery
Posted by: | CommentsStrangely there is only one entry for AntiquesAvenue A-Z of Vintage and Antique Jewellery materials. It seems that D has been reserved for possible the most sought after material of all Diamonds.
Being one of the most popular and expensive gemstones you can read all about diamonds all over the Internet but most are promoting large and very expensive diamonds from several hundred pounds up to a few million for the very largest diamonds. Look carefully and there is some super antique and vintage jewellery about set with smaller diamonds which can be found much more affordable prices. Changing from my normal format of discussing the material , Here is AntiquesAvenue’s guide to buying affordable Antique and Vintage diamond jewellery.
Diamond Locket
A little bit of Diamond Jewellery History
In ancient times all Diamonds came from India and this was the major source of diamonds until the 1720s when diamonds were found in Brazil followed by discoveries in South Africa in the 1860s. All sorts of mystical and magical properties have been attributed to diamonds at different times including plague prevention. Diamonds being the hardest gemstone were difficult to cut and polish and so older diamonds are not as heavily faceted as they are today. Simpler cuts were used and looking at the way a diamond is cut can help tell us the earliest date that it could have been mounted and faceted. The Georgians tried several techniques to make diamonds appear whiter and more brilliant for example setting them into silver and giving them a white foil backing. Of course as with much antique jewellery, diamonds can be re-worked at various stages in their lives so that an ancient diamond could have been re cut in the Victorian ear to bring the shape more up to date. For example the Rose cut diamond popular in the 18th and 19th centuries appear quite grey next to a similar diamond which has been given a more modern cut such as the brilliant.
Diamond and lapis ring
Affordable Antique diamond jewellery dating from before the late 1880s is not really available in any quantity as it is at that time when it when it became available to those with a little disposable income. Simple antique diamond jewellery set with small diamonds such as brooches, bangles and earrings started to be mass produced and it is these that we can now find affordable today. Look out for diamonds which are used as an accent to other stones as in this lapis ring. A sparkle of diamond can go a long was an smaller diamonds are relatively cheap in price.
Looking to but a genuine piece of antique jewellery set with diamonds? I suggest that you consider and antique brooch. Antique gold brooches from the Victorian and Edwardian eras and set with small diamonds can be bought for under £100. You may also be able to find a 9 carat gold ring with other gemstones and diamond points for around this sort of price too. I’ve just checked the antiquesavenue.co.uk website and I even have one antique stick pin with a real diamond point ( a tiny diamond) for £25, now that has got to be a bargain.
As the 20th century progressed diamond cutting was improved and new shapes were introduced. Just take a look at some expensive diamond jewellery from the art deco era to see the range of shapes and sizes available by that time. These include Baguettes and Marquise shapes.
The other technical innovation of the 20th century which improved diamond jewellery was the ability use Platinum to set the diamonds into giving a real white colour to show them off to their best advantage.
Looking for affordable vintage diamond jewellery? The best bargains to be had at the moment are in pieces of 9 carat jewellery from the second half of the last century. For example you can get rings set with smaller diamonds from about £50. I’ve just checked the antiquesavenue.co.uk website and see I have rings with diamonds in from £45 upwards.
If you want the look of diamond but cant afford a single large gem then I suggest taking a look at jewellery with clusters of diamonds. The reason is that several small diamonds adding up to one carat in diamond size will be the fraction of the cost of a one carat diamond.
A-Z
Posted by: | CommentsI’ m writing an A-Z of vintage jewellery materials. Here are my efforts so far:
Beryl, Bone, Bronze, Brass, Butterfly
Posted by: | CommentsRounding off Antique jewellery and Vintage jewellery materials beginning with the letter B.
As we all know vintage jewellery can be made of so many more materials than the precious metals and gemstones. Today as part of my A-z of vintage jewellery materials I am rounding off the letter B with Berly, Bone, Bronze and Butterfly. Previously with the letter B I have looked at Bakelite, Bloodstone and Baroque pearls.
Beryl, Beryl is the family name for some lovely gemstones including the green Emerald and pale blue Aquamarine ( ooops, just realised that I missed out the beautiful Aquamarine under the letter A, will talk about this later today). Beryls not only come in Green and pale blue other varieties can be pink ( morganite) or yellow ( Heliodor). Beryls can also be clear ( Goshenite). All Beryls have a some common characteristics including their hardness ( 7.5 on the Mohs scale) and they are “double refractive ” which refers to the way they split light
Emerald ring
Brass and Bronze, here are two metals which are occasionally used in Jewellery but are not popular due to their weight and the fact that they can oxidise leaving green traces on the skin. Brass and bronze are also quite heavy and so they would only be used in small objects such as charms . Take care if you do buy brass or bronze jewellery that you know which metal you have. Brass can be polished shiny but bronze is meant to retain its green patina and this is easily removed by cleaning.
Here are two Antique Jewellery materials which are a little controversial as they are made from animal parts. I personally do not care for either and choose not to stock them in my shop of them . I include them for completeness sake. Neither of these materials is used in great quantity in modern jewellery.
Bone, Bone was popular as a jewellery material from ancient times. It was plentiful, easy to carve and much cheaper than Ivory. Its creamy colour made it look like ivory but due to its structure it could not be carved with as great detail as Ivory could. The bone jewellery we see today is usually Victorian or early 20th century . You can also find more recent pieces which have been brought back as tourist pieces from places like Africa. Bone jewellery is not popular today so there are bargains to be had if you like this particular material.
Butterfly Wing, Especially popular during the Art Deco era when butterfly wing was used to provide shimmering blue colour to jewellery. The butterfly wings were normally set into silver jewellery which shows off its colour well. Butterfly wing jewellery can have a scene pained over the butterfly wing. Popular scenes include tropical beaches and art deco crinoline ladies. Look out for Butterfly wing jewellery which has the letters TLM as part of the makers mark on the reverse. TLM stands for T L Mott and their butterfly wing jewellery is of very good quality and quite sought after. The butterfly wings in jewellery are easily damaged by damp and over exposure to sunlight. Examine any potential purchases with great care to ensure the wing has not faded or gone brown. Also only use a dry cloth to clean this jewellery as any liquid will ruin the piece.
Butterfly wing pendant
Bakelite
Posted by: | CommentsVintage Jewellery A-Z continues with Bakelite. Bakelite is one of the most highly collected forms of Vintage Costume Jewellery.
Bakelite is a form of plastic, in fact it was the first synthetic plastic and was first made in the early days of the last century. Bakelite was most popular for use in Jewellery between the 1920s and about 1950. It was popular because it was one of the first materials that could be moulded, coloured and shaped, was light weight and relatively low cost.
Bakelite brooch
Bakelite was made into all sorts of jewellery brooches and bangles, earrings and necklaces. The colours and shapes used were those that were popular in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s ( The art Deco era). Bakelite was made in Ivory colour, Green, Red, Yellow and black as well as marbled colours and translucent pieces. You can also fine Bakelite set with Rhinestones / diamante and mixed with other costume jewellery materials.
Identification of Bakelite
The collector of Bakelite needs to be able to distinguish the real thing from other types of early plastics and this is not easy and something I do struggle with myself. The most commonly recommended way to tell the difference is by heating the piece gently and then smelling it. If your piece of jewellery can be safely immersed in water you can dip it for a second into boiling water. Apparently the hot Bakelite gives off the smell of carbolic acid, the problem with this is that you need a good sense of smell and you need to know what carbolic acid smells like.
A few characteristics which may also help identify Bakelite are that it is heavier than other plastics and makes a clunking sound when two pieces are knocked together.
I have heard that there is a polish known as “Simichrome” which when you polish the Bakelite with it leaves a yellow smear on the cloth.
Also check how the metal findings ( clasps , catches and hinges) are attaches. If they are screwed into the plastic rather than glued on then this would indicate Bakelite.
Care of Bakelite:
Store pieces separately to prevent scratching, avoid bright sunlight and harsh chemicals including those in perfume and hairspray.
A couple of books which might help:- Bakelite Style by Tessa Clark pub Chartwell books
- Collecting Art Plastic Jewellery by Leigh Leshner pub KP Book
Bakelite Necklace
This amazing vintage art deco Bakelite necklace is so long that i have had problems showing it to good advantage in the photos. There are two shapes of Ivory and black coloured Bakelite panels joined by silver toned metal chain. There is a hook which joins the two ends as a necklace as can be see in the third photo.
The hollow panel measure about 6 x 1.5 cms with the total length of this art deco necklace being about 125 cms. The Bakelite is in excellent condition although there is a little fading to the silver tone metal.
Vintage Charms, opening A charms
Posted by: | CommentsContinuing the A-Z of vintage charms we have lots to look at with the letter A.
Here are a few of my favourite opening charms beginning with the letter A:
Adam and Eve Apple charm
This Apple charm opens and inside you can see Adam and Eve. A cute silver charm made by Nuvo and dating from circa 1970s. This charm is in the shape of an apple. It opens and inside are Adam and Eve. The Nuvo makers logo is actually impressed inside the apple beneath Adam and Eve. This vintage charm measures about 1.5 cms wide
Vintage charm silver opening Asprins case
A nice vintage charm made of silver and in the shape of a case with the word ” Asprins” written on it. This is quite a rare charm and dates from circa 1960s / 1970s. It would be excellent to add to the charm bracelet of a Nurse, Doctor or other caring professional. This vintage charm measures about 2 cms high including the bail.
A cute vintage charm from circa 1970s made of silver in the shape of Aladdins lamp. This opens to find Genie asleep inside – genie is painted in blue enamels. This charm measures about 3 cms long
Vintage charms blog
Posted by: | CommentsRegular readers here will know that one of the Vintage Jewellery specialities of AntiquesAvenue is Vintage charms and Charm bracelets. I have no opened a special blog devoted to vintage charms over at http://vintage-charms-info.blogspot.com/
Do take a look, I’ve made a start on a Vintage Charms A-Z with A for Acorns and opening charms starting with A.
I’ve also being trying out Google’s new Knol system ( short for knowledge I think) and have written a five point guide on how to tell genuine vintage jewellery from modern reproductions
Anne
Vintage Charms A for Acorn
Posted by: | CommentsHere’s the first entry in the A-Z of Silver charms. A is for Acorns.
Here is an English sterling silver charm dating from circa 1970s, it was made by Nuvo having their manufacturers mark impressed. This charm is set with a faceted crystal making it particularly desirable – also the detail on this is of the highest quality
Approx Size:1 inch long
Approx Weight:5.2 grams
Country of origin England
Have you seen the range of vintage charms available from antiquesavenue.co.uk?
