Featured Cameo Advice

(Warning: rather lengthy and rambling post)

I’m eyeing some items and would appreciate your thoughts on what it is, how it looks in the condition it’s in and if the asking price is worth it.

This first one is a brooch. Seller is back and forth between it being antique or vintage. It’s 10K gold and does look like it has some age to it but the pin makes me think not that old because of the safety and how it doesn’t extend at all from the catch.

Without being able to touch it I don’t know if anyone can tell if this is shell or resin. What do you think?

They ask $57 plus shipping.

The next item is a teeny ring. This one in particular is not so well detailed but I am still considering it. I have thin fingers and finding rings that fit is difficult. It’s a size 3. The band and how small the cameo is doesn’t lead me to believe it was ever a larger size to begin with.

Seller says it’s gold however the stamp is apparently very faided. It does look like its suffered some damage in it’s setting and the bezel is a bit bent.

This one doesn’t look plastic to me at all.

The ask is $40 plus shipping.

This is a brooch. No notes on if it’s seated in brass, silver or copper. The pin setting looks older, c catch? The cameo is cracked. The seller talked the most about the crack. The piece is apparently still secure in the setting despite the crack.

The asking price is $20 plus ship.

And if your still here with me till the end, finally, this rather odd purple necklace. I’m not even sure this is a cameo but this is what the seller called it: I think it’s glass. The seller knows nothing about it either. Chain and pendant look silver but no way to tell from the two pictures available. I don’t think this is antique but I can’t guess if it’s vintage or very new (revival new?) and they ask $20 plus the ship.

It still caught my eye and that’s why it’s included.

Opinions please. The longer I’m left to my own devices the more dangerous.

 

@Bronwen please help, this could be getting out of hand fast.

 

The little ones are still sleeping, Mr. BMRT is still snoring and I’ve had 2 cups of coffee and took a trip into the cameo group... prompting the weird search into cameos.

It’s cameo day apparently at the BMRT household.

 

the only one I would invest in is the first pin....looks like shell and the 10k is a plus....the others are either too damaged or just not that much value

 

It's turning into Cameo Week on antiquers.com!

Let's see.



A pretty bar brooch with a not very good conch shell cameo. Probably 'reads' well when worn. Definitely 20th century. Still vintage, I'd say, not yet all the way to antique. As I recall, you said you buy for you, not for resale? If you like it for yourself, $57 is not unreasonable. Not a great price to try to better reselling.

Seller says it’s gold however the stamp is apparently very faded.

The helmet shell cameo is also very eroded. Looks like some of the edge broke off between 7 & 8 o'clock & bezel has been knocked in to hide the chip & keep cameo secure. It was a so-so carving to begin with. Does it fit you? Another one that would look prettier on than in a closeup photo. $40 is OK for any gold ring.



Helmet shell, looks like silver, probably 800 if it is. Definitely 20th century. Not only cracked, has had 4 little diamonds removed. Very common subject. Leave it.



It qualifies as a cameo. 'Cameo' is not a material. This is really rather pretty. Glass, it is true, but have not seen one with the ornate border that way. I find the setting unfortunately clunky, with the huge prongs clawing at the cameo that way. Revival, vintage, not likely to be silver. For $20, up to you & how much you like it (& would wear it).

 

Once again, this is the part where I say things just so @Bronwen can correct me. I don't make value guesses because I know nothing about values.

1) I believe it is carved and the material is (probably) Queen Conch.

2) Helmet shell, but as suffered the rhinoplasty common to cameo rings. Banged about a good bit looking at the setting.

3) ooh. Not guessing on this one. Immediate thought was "helmet shell that has been repaired," but not so sure now. Back looks completely flat. Don't like the drilled bits -- maybe she had a neckl...

(dammit, browser just told me someone has posted, dammit, @Bronwen beat me... not reading her post, just posting this to see what I got right wrong)

 

I did not do badly.

 

Could the purple one be amethyst?

 

Yes, I buy for me. I’ve never tried to resell and I don’t think I could. I get very sentimental about things fairly quickly.

Thank you for the advice! Cameos are a mystery to me but they are so beautiful to look at.

 

Not sure, it just looks like a purple glass. I wonder if it wasn’t shoved into an open setting someone had. Doesn’t look like it belongs against those giant prongs, does it? I didn’t notice until Bronwen pointed it out.

 

You were doing very well. i will add that #3 probably cracked when the diamonds were prised out.

 

It is. Sorry @bluumz There are carved amethysts, but more that are identified as that than really are. This would be an extremely expensive gem if it were amethyst, & would never have ended up in a setting like this.

 

Oh, lookie there... how the crack ends/starts up directly at one of the holes.

I can't imagine that most diamonds found in pieces like this are even worth the trouble of salvaging. Am I wrong on that?

 

That's a question for someone who knows about diamonds, but 4 very small ones still have to be worth something. Can imagine a jeweller keeping some around to repair pieces like that. If the setting had been gold, whoever removed the diamonds would have sent the gold to melt & tossed the cameo. It is close to valueless now.

 

I used to know quite a bit about diamonds, but I have not kept up in some time.

Still, I'm guessing they were worth more in the cameo than out.

(afterthought: unless it was a jeweler who took them out. Can't imagine a jeweler buying them, but removing them, sure.)

 

Not really. They only meant you'd have to ask way more for a mediocre modern cameo in a plain silver frame than anyone would be willing to pay. Time for them to move on & find a new life. It sorrows me when a really beautiful cameo gets damaged because someone has taken it out of its mount for the meltdown value of the gold. Some cameos I do not grieve for.

 

I'm going to add my two penneth in hear but the caveat is that I know nothing about cameos other than what I've started to pick up here. Personally I'd keep my money in my pocket and look for something better quality. Sadly I've been ruined by Bronwen showing some stunning ones. Only one I'd buy is the first if the seller hadn't noticed it was gold and possibly the last because I quite like it if it was cheap. But I'm a cheapskate and again I know nothing!.

 

Lol, love a caring community

 

@BMRT

My goodness! Take that $137 and shop for a really great piece with no damage and a beautifully carved portrait!! Tons of great stuff out there

Stick around and cruise @Bronwen 's cameo thread. We all buy things on the cheap just to learn when we find a new interest. But there's no need to waste newbie funds speculating on beat cameos and interesting marriages, she's carved (pun intended) it all out for us

Of course, you're always welcome to run your cameo finds and questions by her and the group.

 

I did, I passed up on them. I liked the purple but with the heap of costume jewelry I currently own I have to be a bit more picky. I kept it saved as a favorite and if I find myself going back to look at it, I may buy it. Sometimes pieces are just a new mania for me and sometimes I go back and look at an item frequently. That’s how I know it’s real for me lol.