modemodern vintage and antique jewelry accessories and decorative arts
All Items : Archives : Estate Jewelry : Pre 1900 item #732339
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Beautiful antique high relief lava cameo bracelet in 9KT gold with six cameos, two on each end in creamy greens, tans, and gray, and one black and one white cameo in the center. Circa 1900. Not marked but tests positive for 9KT gold. With a slide clasp. It weighs 30 grams. 1 inch wide by 3/8 inch deep and 6 1/2 inches wearable length. Excellent condition. Photos enlarged to show detail.
All Items : Archives : Estate Jewelry : Pre 1900 item #663185
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Exceptional antique 14KT yellow gold ring with a beautifully executed carved black onyx cameo. Victorian, circa 1860 - 1880. Possibly a mourning piece. Not marked but tests positive for 14KT gold with jeweler's acid. Engraved inside with three initials in script. From a Baltimore estate. The cameo has very fine detail; one of the best cameos I have ever had. A fabulous and very wearable antique ring and perfect for wearing with other black jewelry.

Ring size 6...

All Items : Archives : Estate Jewelry : Pre 1910 item #632156
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A beautiful antique Victorian / Art Nouveau 14KT yellow gold ring in the form of two intertwined snakes, each with a genuine ruby in its head. Circa 1900. Snakes were a popular motif in the Victorian era, signifying eternity and love, and were also a popular motif in the Art Nouveau and Art Deco eras. Marked 14K and also marked with a what looks like a maker's mark of a D in a lozenge shaped cartouche. The rubies are gemologist verified...
All Items : Archives : Estate Jewelry : Pre 1910 item #738898
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Outstandingly wearable antique garnet earrings. Circa 1900. The metal tests positive for 9KT gold with jeweler's acid. The shepherd's hook backs are probably replacements and they test positive for 14KT gold. The large oval stones are 7 mm by 5 mm and the round stones are 5 mm in diameter. The tiny stones are 1 - 2 mm in diameter. Great size -- 2 1/4 inches long and 5/8 inch wide. They weigh 11 grams. Excellent condition...
All Items : Archives : Estate Jewelry : Pre 1920 item #662490
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Beautiful large and heavy antique sterling silver sculpted ring with an 8 millimeter pearl in the center. It has a tiny antique hallmark, and tests positive for sterling silver. Probably circa 1900 or a bit later. Heavy and substantial at 17 grams; it is wonderful to wear and it feels like solid silver. Possibly European; it has an Arts & Crafts look, with sculpted foliate designs and oxidized detail. A fabulous statement ring...
All Items : Archives : Estate Jewelry : Pre 1920 item #731745
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Beautiful antique gold ring in the form of a coiled snake, with a ruby in the top of its head, and diamonds as eyes. Marked with an antique hallmark with 14 just visible. Also tests positive for 14KT gold. Circa 1900 - 1920. Snakes were a popular motif in the Victorian era, signifying eternity and love, and were also a popular motif in the Art Nouveau and Art Deco eras. Substantial at 12 grams...
All Items : Archives : Estate Jewelry : Pre 1940 item #622711
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Fabulous pale green genuine apple jade beaded necklace with a white gold filigree clasp with a lovely genuine opal cabochon. Circa 1930. The clasp is marked 14K. The jade beads are a nice size at 9 millimeters wide. Handknotted with matching pale green thread; the stringing appears to be original and is secure. The beads have beautiful darker green variegated markings.

The necklace is 15 3/4 inches long with the clasp extended, and just under 3/8 inch wide. Excellent condition...

All Items : Archives : Estate Jewelry : Pre 1940 item #653211
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Vintage Art Deco Bauhaus style demi-parure in chrome, the early plastic Galalith, and so-called "Peking glass" beads simulating jade, by the German maker Jakob Bengel. This set dates from the early 1930s. The wrapped chrome elements are the same as those in a necklace pictured on page 162 of the Jakob Bengel monograph by Christianne Weber.

The large pale yellow and green marbled beads are Galalith, which is an early plastic similar to Bakelite, which was used primarily in Europe. The Weber ...

All Items : Archives : Estate Jewelry : Pre 1940 item #657041
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A fabulous vintage classic six, that is, a six dot Bakelite bangle. Circa 1935. Guaranteed vintage and original, from a Philadelphia estate. In heavily marbled tortoise with six inset dots in pale yellow creamed corn. The bangle and the dots test positive for Bakelite using Simichrome.

1/2 inch wide by 3/8 inch thick and with standard 2 1/2 inches inside diameter. Excellent condition. Photos enlarged to show detail.

All Items : Archives : Estate Jewelry : Pre 1940 item #653105
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Vintage 1930s French Art Deco Bakelite bangle bracelet with applied metal seahorses and faux glass based pearls. Tests positive for Bakelite using Simichrome and 409. Unsigned, made by JHP Paris, which is very well known for its distinctive Bakelite and metal jewelry featuring whimsical animals, most often seahorses. I have owned several marked French pieces.

This piece is beautiful, in a great width and in a marbled butterscotch or peanut butter color Bakelite. The metal is brass with a ...

All Items : Archives : Estate Jewelry : Pre 1940 item #622670
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Beautiful Art Deco beaded necklace with very big genuine carved rock crystal "pools of light" beads. Circa 1920 or 1930. With twenty five 17 millimeter drilled beads strung on white cotton thread with brass spring ring and jump ring closure. The thread and clasp are original and are secure. The thread is hand knotted between each bead. The beads are very heavy and glow fabulously, and since they are genuine rock crystal, images viewed through them are refracted to appear upside down and backw...
All Items : Archives : Estate Jewelry : Pre 1950 item #596478
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Outstanding and very big Art Deco/Retro Moderne figural layered pin in clear Lucite and ebonized carved wood with inlaid silver detail. Circa 1945. Unsigned, most likely by Elzac Inc., which produced jewelry from materials such as ceramic, Lucite, fur, feathers, cloth, and wood during World War II when other materials were in short supply. This exact piece is pictured, along with several other Elzac pins, on page 114 of "The Best of Bakelite and Other Plastic Jewelry" by Dee Battle and Alayne L...
All Items : Archives : Estate Jewelry : Pre 1950 item #666392
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Very rare vintage Ben Reig hinged bangle in goldtone with coral color thermoset stones and clear rhinestones. Late 1940s. Marked BEN REIG. The American design firm Ben Reig operated from the 1930s through the 1960s and I believe is known more for its clothing than its jewelry.

This piece has a beautiful openwork design made up of many small Maltese crosses studded with thermoset plastic faux coral cabochon stones, and clear rhinestones. Perfect any time of the year but especially for resort ...

All Items : Archives : Estate Jewelry : Pre 1950 item #653146
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Very big vintage 1940s Elliot Handler designed Elzac figural brooch in glazed ceramic backed with lime green Lucite, with metallic raffia braid, and two blue Lucite beads at top and bottom. This exact piece, in a different color combination, is pictured on page 197 of the Brunialtis' "A Tribute to America" with a 1943 Elliot Handler patent reference cited. Elzac produced jewelry from materials such as ceramic, Lucite, fur, feathers, cloth, and wood during World War II when other materials were ...
All Items : Archives : Estate Jewelry : Pre 1950 item #748516
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Charming French bracelet in aged brass with beautiful green glass stones. 1930s or 1940s. Marked MADE IN FRANCE. With very large faceted green glass stones in the center and at the end of the fob charm, and with tiny faceted green glass stones and cabochon cut green glass stones. Spring ring clasp. The back has a very interesting textured pattern. With classic French filigree and stamped metal elements. 1 inch wide at center. Wearable length is 6 1/2 inches. The charm is 2 inches...
All Items : Archives : Estate Jewelry : Pre 1950 item #653236
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Completely charming and adorable and beautifully executed vintage 1940s carved wood turtle figural brooch with black and white glass eyes. He is a great size and completely three dimensional and is just as much fun sitting on a table or desk as he is as a pin. A classic 1940s piece and rare to see one so well executed with such excellent detail.

3 inches long by 1 3/4 inches wide by 1 inch tall. Excellent condition. Photos enlarged to show detail.

All Items : Archives : Estate Jewelry : Pre 1950 item #744437
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Beautiful drop necklace made from soft coral pink silk cord, cross sectioned shells, and small shells, in the style of the Miriam Haskell jewelry made during the 1930s and 1940s from natural materials. The silk cord is knotted in an intricate and dramatic draped design. The length can be adjusted by "buttoning" one of several end strands through the loop at the clasp. A perfect resort or summer look. I am also listing a similar necklace, from the same estate, in green. Wearable le...
All Items : Archives : Estate Jewelry : Pre 1950 item #744430
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Beautiful bib necklace made from soft green silk cord, small shells, and one centered cross sectioned shell, in the style of the Miriam Haskell jewelry made during the 1930s and 1940s from natural materials. The silk cord is knotted in an intricate and dramatic fringed design. The length can be adjusted by "buttoning" one of several end strands through the loop at the clasp. A perfect resort or summer look. I am also listing a similar necklace, from the same estate, in coral pink....