I'm thinking about collecting old jewelry any tips?

I'm thinking about collecting old jewelry, I'm more interested in age, I love anything that has age to it as you can't put a price on history.

Value isn't important although nice if I do find anything of high value for cheap.

I'm looking for jewelry made during the 1800s to 1945 or older. I'm clueless about jewelry and there is so much of it out there its hard to tell which is old and what is modern.

Where would I start?

What pieces would be the easiest to identify?

Any tips?

 

Yes, I have a tip. Buy what you love. Or else... What's the point?

Debora

 

I buy any cheap jewellery vintage or antique that looks interesting or that I don’t recognise or understand even if it’s broken or pretty much worthless.
I take them home and research what I can find out for myself and use my basic testing skills to ascertain materials.
I then stretch the patience of all the lovely people on here by posting pictures of all my waifs and strays.
Everyone has been incredibly tolerant explaining what I’ve got and send me on new paths to research. One thing I have learned is that it’s not just about the item itself and what it’s made of but why it was made, who for, where and when. I’ve learned more about other cultures, history and geography that I ever learned in school although there are still some howling gaps to fill!.
I’ve been lucky enough to find some lovely bits and pieces and been very surprised by some I thought were humdrum (like the Austro-Hungarian cross I was going to rob a pearl out of , don’t worry I was halted in time by the assembled wise ones).
I have looked back on some of my posts and thought - ‘that was such a daft question, how did I not know that’ but I didn’t know ANYTHING so it has been a steep learning curve.
I find it very useful having a basic knowledge of materials, prolific manufacturers /designers and which findings were used in which era such as clasps etc. I test myself and I’m getting more accurate although occasionally my guesses need rounding up to the nearest century .
My only issue is that I am now becoming more discerning which usually means more expensive. I buy reasonably priced lots that have interesting looking bits in them and snap up car boot bargains. It’s great to find something that has value but I don’t particularly like so I have no regrets selling it to fund my hobby. Once an item has released its secrets to me I move it on unless I love it!. Hence I have far far too many glass beads.
Even my OH is coming to appreciate what I do as he is starting to take an interest.
Sorry that turned into a mega ramble.....

 

Well thats the thing, if I see something I like but doesn't have the right age to it then I'm not going to like and I don't want to end up with modern tat or bits that aren't very old they have to be no later than 1945. I need to be sure something has the age range I'm looking for.

 

Buy what interests you. Buy the mysteries. One good rule is: if you pick it up and still haven't put it down five minutes later, it's one to buy. A lot of "old" is just experience; if you handle enough of it, you know. The same holds true for precious metals and other "good stuff".

One thing that has to be the right age is bakelite jewelry. although some of the leftover plastic was used well into the 1960s. The later pieces also have later designs and later metal. Some people need to test for the proper plastic, and some just develop an eye/nose. WWII sweetheart and Victory pieces are also guaranteed to be in the right age range.

 

You need to go prowl round some good dealers and the jewellery gallery at the V&A to get your eye in.

 

Thats what I'm going to be doing when the car boot sales and charity shops open up. I'm left with just ebay at the moment and there are always to many bidding wars on things like jewelry but if I see any job lots going for cheap I will buy them and see if there is anything among them that has the age I'm looking for and re-sell the bits I don't want.

I want to make myself a treasure chest and have nice old bits to put inside of it, just little bits and bobs that I'll treasure and get them out every so often to look at them.

 

You managed to say in three words what took me about 10 rambling paragraphs

 

I'm left with just ebay at the moment...

the hell you are !!

There are jewelry auctions on line...all over the net ...

Find em.....watch em.....read the descriptions....look at what folks are buying and paying for ... notice how the items are made....
there's lots you can do to educate yourself.........sittin right where you are...

https://www.cowanauctions.com/auction/1262019-jewelry-and-timepieces-discovery-auction-12552

 

That's a big sweep of stylistic time: Georgian; Regency; Victorian; Edwardian; stylistic periods archeological revival, arts & crafts, art nouveau; Egyptian Revival; art deco, to name some of the major ones. You've opened yourself to a vast jewellery universe.

How a piece was made, techniques used & findings: hinges, clasps, pin stems. I rely on these in determining whether a cameo is from the Georgian, Victorian or Edwardian period, in conjunction with material, condition, sometimes type of piece, such as very explicit mourning items.

You might want to get some basic books just so you can train your eye & instincts.

Not sure which auctions komo was pointing out, but if he means ones run by auction houses, yes, there are lots of them. You'll end up paying twice the hammer price when the dust settles & have virtually no protections as the buyer, caveat emptor. But you can certainly browse them for educational purposes, of course, aware that info given is not always accurate. Look & look & look. I have a lot of cameos, but have looked at thousands. EBay can be highly educational.

I agree with buy the (reasonably priced) mysteries. Some of my best buys have been things I knew were strange/incongruous, such as a Roman glass intaglio in a 1930s Egyptian ring & another in a Georgian fob seal.

 

But you can certainly browse them for educational purposes,

& that was where I was going !

of course, aware that info given is not always accurate.

& eBay is ???

 

I really strongly recommend cultivating a taste for jewellery— buy if you can find something that you definitively like, not just a thing that will be “authentic” or worth money... that’s too nebulous a target to start with.

This is how it worked for me:

1) Look at paintings of a people wearing jewellery
2) Discover what jewellery I like from the pictures
3) Research that jewellery
4) Find the jewellery, and others like it when I’m out

The “nose” for jewellery, in my experience, develops after you have established what you *want* to find. Me? I like precious metals, stones, coins, middle eastern revival, Egyptian revival, beadwork and female figures, so I alway go for them. Now I’ve looked at enough, I can guess the quality with some accuracy. But I don’t think anyone here would say that you get the knowledge before you get the taste!

 

eBay is a good place for searching stuff and bargains can be had if not to many people see the auctions. I don't add things to my watch list anymore I just write down the listing title and date and time when to bid and snip it at the last few seconds.

Adding things to my watch list just attracts the loonie bidders pushing up the price well beyond its value.

I've had some nice marked silver pocket watch chains for cheap from ebay so far.

 

I'm going out on a quick treasure hunt today mainly to see if the antiques shop is open, according to google its open... they have a large box of coins outside 5 old coins for one pound and I'll be looking for 1939 shillings and sixpences or older. I'm always on the look out for old coins, tokens or medals.

I've been looking at jewelry found on Titanic to get an idea of what to look for. I may visit some museums once they open. I might buy some books on jewelry.

 

All of the above.
Beware of fakes on ebay, especially of Georgian jewellery.
Read the posts on the Jewelry forum.

This thread is useful when looking for books:
https://www.antiquers.com/threads/books-on-antique-and-vintage-jewelry-to-recommend.32842/

 

I've already seen some fakes on ebay with that brushed faked patina look. I'll definitely study pieces before buying. Jewelry can be a hard one to get right.

 

Some fakers are much more crafty than that.
Fake Georgian jewellery often has a rather loose setting of the stones, with gaps. As if the Georgians didn't know how to mount stones perfectly.

 

No, but for most jewellery there are so many similar listings that you can juxtapose & compare, see where they're in agreement, what's an outlier. Sometimes a seller is very knowledgeable & tells you what they know & how they know it. I've learned a lot from eBay.

 

A few sites that may help:
http://www.morninggloryantiques.com
https://www.langantiques.com/university/
https://www.topazery.com/antique-diamonds.htm

 

& i've learned a lot from fine auction catalogs where they describe the item to the N'th degree !