Vintage And Antique Jewelry - Spaces, September 2008

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r/tlueless whenit comesto couture,I feela \zbit of a poseurwhenthe subjectturnsto

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fashion. Wearing a uniformof mostlyblackand white, I'm hardlythe one to adviseon collectibleclothing.Then I realizedvintageand estate jewelry is my personalobsession.It fanaticism seemedonlyrightto marryfashion, andwork. beauThisseason's trendslendthemselves pieces. Long,lean, tifullyto vintageandestate ladylikesilhouettesshoutedout for a bit of bravado.Bold iewelryadornedthe necksand wristsof fall '08'smodels.But antiquejewelry is an investment of a lifetime,piecesacquired because of their uniqueappealto the ownel piecesthat will carryfrom seasonto season because theyreflectthe styleandtasteof a discernlngeye.

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fffecE All the jewelers I talked to agreedthat in

generaljewelry is defined as followsrantique is at leastloo yearsold; vintageis old; estate is anythingpreviouslyworn. They fall into the followingtime periodsr All Georgianjewelry Georgian-17'14-183o: was handmadeand was largelydifferent colors of gold, pearls and colored gemstones. Faceting was largely unknown, and most stones had closed backs. Paste was in high demand and was not considereda compromise;bows,flowers and featherswere popular motifs. Victorian-t83os-l9ol: Popular jewelry of the era included miniatures,long dramatic earrings,matched bracelets,fringe and the emergence of the popularity of diamonds, Mourning jewelry was also popular after PrinceAlberts death in t86t. Edwardian-t9o2-t915: Edwardian jewelry has inspired many of the popular designersof today. Primarilywhite metal and diamonds,the jewelry has an airy light appearance.Wide dog collarswere popularasQueenAlexandrafavored the style which covereda scaron her neck. Deco-t9zos-'5os:Distinctivepiecescharacterized by bold, geometric shapes, they usuallycontain a liberal use of white metals and diamondswith punchesof color. Besides modernism,outsideculturesinfluencedjewelry makerswho filled a demandfor carvedjade and other piecesreflectingthe Orient. Retro-l94os-'5os3

Cocktail

jewelry

reignedsupreme,and the influenceof movie stars eclipsedthat of royalty.Becauseof the demand for metal for the war effort, jewelry designersworked with different alloysto create piecesin multiplecolorsof gold.Semi-precious stones were popular with precious stonesbeing used largelyfor accents.

l:ven

ta-kyellowgold ChrisGarrett Russian

or perhaps for the professionals,

Ee s pecially

hand-constructedring set with a

fo r th e p rofe s s ionals ,

four-carat,round diamond with

there are piecesthat markthe heartevenif they end up in the possession

accents. bezelset, Burmese-ruby

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of someoneelse. WandaAllen Lessa specificpiece than certainelements,Allen hasa passion

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tn profile, rhe backof rhe ring thesilhourises to a pointechoing ette of the Russian oniondomes. Sally Hilkene A set featuring imperial

for jade eitheraloneor mixedwith pearlsor gold.

topaz,the ring a largescissorcut surroundedby a double

She saysSouthSeapearlswith a Deco claspworn to the side piece.flearingjadedescribedas a "transluare a stunning,stand-alone

row of diamondsthat would surelyspan knuckleto knuckle'The ear-

cent gumdrop"gave me a newly acquiredrespect,and desirefor, the

drop. ringsfeaturethe samestones,but with a dramatic,pear-shaped Tom Tivol A tgth-century,6.5 carat demantoid garnet ring with a

ttoni"n., BertelsmeierTwo carator larger,emerald-cutdiamondring,

color set in a white gold,engravedsettingwith diaclearyellow-green

white and cleanin the originalArt Deco mounting.Who could blame

mondson either side.The stonesand workmanshipboth outstanding,

her?

Tivoldeemedit'goose bumpygorgeous."

l I you are lo oking to a cq uir e. i 1- liecof e

s howsm e an lB t h - c e n t u r yp e n d a r r ts e t w i t h

for the confiderrtfashionista. show-stop1:ers

e s t ate iew elry tltere a re a fe w t hings lo

int aglios nat ur a lp e a r l sa n d a s h e l l c a m e o Car r et t not es , " S a l l y d o e s n 't f o l l o w t r e n d s

M o u r n i r r g j e w e l r y a l l - b l a c k l t i e c e s tn a d e

kn o w T he most imllorta nt,as wit h any c ol-

p o p u l a rb y O u e e nV i c t o r i aa f t e rt h e de a th o f

when it c om est o a n t i q u ei e w e l r y" H e t h i n k s old piec esar e d w a y f o r p e o p l e t o r e i n t e r -

h e r h u s b a n d , w o u l d f i n d a p l a c e i n yo u r

o r A l e x a n d e rM c O u e e n .

r e l i ableappr a isa ls,h ave sp en t t heir whole

" A n t i q u ei e w llr et s om et hingi n a n e w w a y elr y allows peop l et o r e k i n d l et h e p a s t '

c a reersin t he ie welryb usirres slndus t r y An

Nanc y Ber t e l s m e r e ro f L i l l i a n e 's F i n e

h is , i n d u stryt hat o nce wa s a b usines s whic w h y T ivol w ill co urrselyou to k now y our

, erald lewelr yagr ees .S h e a n d h e r p a r t r r e rC j e w e l r y to genChait r nan,hav eb e e n s e l l i n g

B u t t h e i n t e r e s t i n gt h i n g i s n 't l u st th e i e w e l r y ,i t 's t h e j e w e l r yb u y e r " Wo m e n a r e

d e a ler and to se ek an dl)l)ra is alwhen y ou

er : linr r s of r ene a l c r r s t n m e r sO n e o f t h e i r

a r e buyirrga vinta ge or an tique piec e. I n

m os t c om m on r e q u e s t s ,a n d o n e o f t h e

b u y i n gi e w e l r yt l r e m s e l v e sa, n d n o t l u st a n y j e w e l r y ,b u l s o m e [ i r n e s w o r l d - c l a ssg e m -

o r d ert o dete rmin eth e qu alityo f a piec ey ou n e e d to conside r, ind ivid ua lly ,"t he gem -

r nos tenjoy ablel o F i l l ,i s f o r a n l r q u ee r r g a g e -

s t o n e s , "s a y s T i v o l . l t 's p o s s i b l e t ha t yo u r

m ent r ings .Lilli a n e 'sh a s a b r o a d s e l e c t i o n

s w e e t h e a r tw o u l d s e e t h e a p p e al o f th e

st o n es,meta l,lab or a nd d esign, "s ay sTiv ol. ' ' W h enyou are lo oking al d vi nt ageCar lier

ol v inlage alr d e s l d l e r i n g s t h a t a r e i n t l t e

D e c o b o x - c u t d i a r n o n d t e n n i s br a ce l e t,

Edwar dians t y le ,w h i t e m e t a l s w i t h a l o t o f

l m a g i n i n gt h e f l a w l e s ss t o n e sd r a p e d ca su -

piece," he says, "you have to look beyond

det ail ar r d eng r a v i n g ,w h i c h h a s i n s p i r e d m any c ont em p o r a r y d e s i g n e r s . " S o m e -

a l l y a r o u n d y o u r w r i s t . B u t w o u l d yo u r

t h e u se of t he ston es Th e ca ch etof t he jewe l r y house make sit extreme lyr ar e. "

t im es , "Ber t els m e i esr a y sw i t h a s r n i l e ," t h e

earringsset in the twist of soFtgold rope

pr opos alhappe n sr i g h t h e r e

r b i l ? P e r lr a p sBu t m a d ey o u r l ) u l s eq u i c k e r a

. l e c t ible,is w orkwith a re pu tab ledealerTom T i v o l and Wa nd a Alle n, who hav e joined f o rc e sin prov idin ge xcep tion aliewelr yand

h e a r tw l r e t h e ry o u r c l o s e th o l d s C a l vi nKl e i n

BE YOUROWN BESTFRIEND

h o r r e yk n o w t h a t t h e P e r s i a nt u r q u o i sed r o p

piec es ,but I wa s s u r p r i s i n g l ye n a m o r e do f

i f y o u s l i p o n t h e p a i r o f t r a n s l u c e n ti a d e b a n g l eb r a c e l e t sa n d " i t s i n g s , "a s T i vo l p r e -

F a i r w ay, also \u gg esISslrop l)ir t gwit lr a m er -

t he Vic t or ia exa m l l l e s S h e d e m o n s t r a t e d

c l i c t s ,i t m i g h t b e t i m e t o t a k e t h i ng s i l l to

c h a nt w ith a de ep se lectiona nd a k nowl-

t lr e c lev er nes a s n d e c o n o m yo f t h e D a y a n d

y o u r o w n h a n d s .l f y o u r s w e e t h e a r itn q u i r e s

e d g e ablesta ff He a nd own er Sally Hilk ene

Night ear r r ngst h a t a l l o w t h e d r o l t o f t h e

a b o u t t h e p u r c h a s e( w h a ta r e t h e c h a n ce s? ) ,

h a v e noticed Chu rch ills clie nt s hav e been

ear r ingt o be r etn o v e ds o i t i s s r m l l l eb y d a y

pa r t icularlyinte restedin pla tinum ar r ddia-

and s t ur t ning b y n i g h l L a r g e d r a m a l i c

you can raise an eyebrow and coyly reply, " Wh a t ?T h i s o l d t h i n g ? "<)

m o nd bracele tsfrom th e 19 30s But as lr e

Eas t er n lndian t a s s e l e a r r i n g s w o u l d b e

TO TRENDOR NOT TO TREND Chris C arrett a ma na ge rat Chur c hillin

t 04 i K \\s \s ( : l l \ s l,\ ( , 1. . s

Ber t els m eie rs h o w e d m e m a n y l o v e l y