New Necklaces book review by Geek Jewellery

New Necklaces book review by Geek Jewellery

Another book and another opinion. Is it worth buying this fabulous book entitled "New Necklaces" 400 designs in contemporary jewellery by Nicolas Estrada?

Well having obtained and read many books on both vintage and today's jewellery - this is a must. Especially if you like the little bit of Geek or something very different from the normal in your neck jewellery. It is full of clear images and descriptions of contemporary necklaces and with each turn of the page, more just jump out and fire your imagination. Okay, so many you would not wear, but many you would. Just like some of the clothes displayed on a fashion show. These necklaces are inspirational and daring. Fabulous use of mixed media in some cases and traditional silver and gold in others.
Many people tend to stick to the same boring designs that are "In fashion" and available in their hundreds and thousands. But why follow the crowd - when this amount of necklaces in so many fashionable designs are available.  

What this jewellery book contains.

It has 400 images of cool jewellery from statement necklaces to fine silver and gold necklaces and beads designed and made by jewellery designers around the world. Big and bold pieces to small and neat. Just love the designs that are totally unusual.

From using new material and many different kinds of materials. This book also has many designs made from recycled items.
How cool is this teddy bear necklace by Soyeon Kim? who also has a pink rabbit toy necklace depicted.

 Take a look at this fabulous book. It was first published in 2016 and is available at all good book retailers now.

Recommended book about Napier jewelry

This is today's recommended book on Napier jewelry. Napier is known in the UK for selling costume jewelry and accessories from 1878 up to today. As with most jewelry companies Napier has had several name changes and in the 1990s became the property of the Victoria Creations Inc.
If you want to know about this company and see hundreds of pictures of their jewelry? Then I recommend that you buy the book written by Melida L Lewis with Henry Swen called "The Napier Co: Defining 20th century costume jewelry"

I have to say its one of the thickest books about jewelry that I own and its so dam difficult to read physically. Its too heavy to hold up and you will get neck ache before the end!! However even with it being difficult to handle - it is a fabulous book about Napier jewelry that is a must to own if you collect or sell any type of vintage jewelry not just Napier.  

This book not only covers Napier but looks at the costume jewelry trends in America from Victorian to the 21st century. Don't forget that this is the American time line and jewelry fashion was a bit different for the UK time line. It does though helps with dating and identifying Napier pieces with the social history of the company is included in great detail. Its not cheap, I paid over $100 and then there is the additional shipping costs to the UK to add on. But I will say its is worth every penny - no I don't do dollars, but I have descended to spell jewelry the international not the correct English way!!

Napier was sold in the UK, not very often though do I find their costume jewelry. In the last 5 years I have come across when sourcing locally: 2 brooches, 1 pair of earrings and 2 necklaces only. But it can be found in huge quantities in the US and on line. If we have any Napier then you will find it in our Napier jewelry collection (spelt right)   

More jewelry reference book reviews in the pipe line and coming soon.........   

   

Monet The Master Jewelers by Alice Vega

A new book is just out on Monet jewellery. Monet The Master Jewelers by Alice Vega was first published a couple of weeks ago and is not one to miss. A large and heavy book filled with the history of Monet or previously Monocraft jewellery. Adverts that date Monet jewellery and plenty of pieces arranged in decades until the eighties.

The company may have started in 1927 as an initials business, producing the monograms that were a popular trend of the 1920s & 1930s for initially cars. The Great Depression, saw them move to handbags as few could afford cars. Expanding their business into jewellery, the company went from Monocraft to Monet in 1937. They produced a YSL line in the 1980s and in the 1990s manufactured the Christian Lacroix line. In 1996 saving the company from bankruptcy, Liz Clairebourne company took over. Still having a name for quality and style Monet continues to expand  today
.

Great book on jewellery, well written and researched and contains page after page of jewellery, definitely one to buy and keep in your reference library.

Here are just a few of the Monet jewellery pieces that are available on Jewels and Finery at the moment.
 

Monet jewellery set of a swirl brooch and matching earrings

We do have many other pieces in stock that we add every week onto the website.

Costume Jewellery by Judith Miller - a book review

Okay I have gone to to write a review on this book Costume Jewellery by Judith Miller several times, but I am really having difficulty because its one of the worst books on vintage jewellery I have read ever and overall was very disappointing.

The content is available readily on the Internet about the individual designer and so there was nothing new or refreshing to read. Many vintage costume jewellers and historians have very comprehensive and correct factual information available that is free to view. There were also some glaring errors.  

AURORA BOREALIS rhinestones were first made in about 1955. So any jewellery with this is not 1930s/1940s but would be dated from the late 1950s onwards........

With the title "Costume Jewellery" I expected at least some relevant information on UK's vintage costume jewellery. and especially as its been written by someone from the UK. But no the book is also published with the "Costume Jewelry" title aimed at the US market. There is very little written about UK costume jewellery apart from the newer Butler and Wilson and Vivienne Westwood.  Most of the vintage jewellery shown is only obtainable from the US and most is now quite rare and expensive. You also need to be wary of fakes when buying this type of designer pieces.

This is a lily flower brooch in marcasite and enamel. This vintage brooch is available in a wide range of coloured enamel. They were made from the early part of the twentieth century until the 1970s. One size does not fit all. The earlier ones are of pot metal, not rhodium plated and the clasp is very different C shaped not the rollover clasp. So by just showing the front can be very misleading for dating.


Unbelievably the "Unsigned Gems" chapter contained signed vintage jewellery- not sure what that was all about?? It would have been extremely helpful to show the backs of the jewellery and clasps.

Vintage clip-on earrings by Ciro Pearls

The only thing I can say without being terribly rude - is that if you like to look at pretty pictures of jewellery only - then buy this book. But if you are a complete novice and want to actually learn about costume jewellery -  then there are many other good quality books and informative books available., Ones that are well researched and contain excellent information that is correct - the Warman's Series is an excellent place to start.  

 Purple vintage long necklaces

Art Deco Jewelry Jakob Bengel by Christianne Weber-Stober - Jewellery Book Review

One factory that imported jewellery into the UK up to the Second World War, in huge amounts selling in stores like Woolworths was in Idar-Oberstein, Germany. Jakob Bengel produced large quantities of costume or fashion jewellery from metal and galalith. Extremely collectible now all over the world.

This large book has page after page of photographs of the Art Deco jewellery of the 1920s and 1930s from Bengel. Because at the onset of WW2 many Jewish workers downed tools and never returned. The factory retained its history, unfinished and finished jewellery with many order and pattern books, allowing identification and dates of manufacture.

For an introduction to Jakob Bengel's jewellery this book is invaluable. However the translation of German to English and the fact that half the book is in German and the other half the English translation makes the first few pages hard to read. But get past that and the full colour photographs are well worth it.

This is not the only book available on this subject but a worthy one to have in your collection.

Emmons & Sarah Coventry Jewelry fashion Show by Deborah A Robinson

This is another book review on the subject of vintage jewellery

This week I have decided to look at the book on Emmons and Sarah Coventry jewellery by Deborah A Robinson, because in the UK the vintage jewellery is not rare and you will often find brooches, necklaces, bracelets or earrings. They also did a range of men's and children's jewellery. Less found in the UK are the scarves and accessories.

On a previous blog I have written about the history of the company and so will not look at that here.

This book is one of several that can be bought. All the authors are collectors and enthusiasts in the US, so although the jewellery is in most the same, you do come across pieces that are marked UK that may not be in the books.

For me this is one of my most used books. It has helped to find the names of jewellery that I find, age and also what is available in that set.
It is written in an easy to read format with hundreds of coloured photographs for reference.It has a section in the back on International jewellery produced by the company from 1960 to 1980.

Green cufflinks and tie pin boxed from sarah Coventry.

Price guides do fluctuate and although the prices are displayed in dollars, this book was written in 2006 and the prices for Sarah Coventry jewellery have risen.  

Jewellery Book Review - Kenneth Jay Lane, Faking It

I have a fast growing collection of books on jewellery from all over the world. To increase my knowledge I read about all sorts of jewellery; antique, fine, costume and trinkets to name just a few topics

On the Jewelry Ring Yahoo Forum, recently a person from the UK unscribed because "didn't realise it was an American group" I felt very sad for this person as they have missed a wonderful opportunity to learn so much from jewellery enthusiasts and specialists from all over the world. There is a large number in the group from the US, but also from Canada, Europe and the UK. The photographs of jewellery in people's collections or for sale I would not have had the opportunity to see unless I spent hours on hours searching the net, but then would not have come any where near.  This book falls into the category of not seeing a great deal of American KLJ jewellery but well worth knowing about.

Kenneth Jay Lane's jewellery is not so well known in the UK as Butler and Wilson but is very much in the same style.

                                                         Snake bracelet from book 1970

I had to send for the book "Faking It" by Kenneth Jay Lane from the USA as it was a lot cheaper (even with postage) than the UK prices.  The book is now out of print but copies can still be purchased from book dealers

Kenneth Jay Lane was born in Detroit, US and started out with a background in art, designing shoes. He began adding rhinestones buckles and before long started experimenting on adding stones to cheap plastic bangles. This was the sixties and from there progressed to designing jewellery worn by former president's wives (Jacqueline Kennedy, Nancy Regan) film stars (Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn) and Royalty (Princess Margaret, Duchess of Windsor, The Princess of Wales) and many other rich and famous people.

He is renowned for his fantasy jewellery and OTT style. But he has many more demure pieces.
I enjoyed this book as it tells his life story and is illustrated with loads of photographs which explains the pieces and also gives dates. Although I have seen very little KLJ pieces over the years it is a very good book to read, if you want to increase your knowledge on vintage costume jewellery.

     Brooches in shell and snail motif - the snail is an update from the 1960s version, reproduced in 1992
                                                                 Taken from the book. 

Mr Lanes jewellery can still be purchased new from QVC and vintage pieces are available from the jewellery sellers on the net. 

It is a beautiful Saturday morning and this weekend will be spent in the garden. So until next blog bye...

Cameos Old & New Anna M Miller - Book Review

At the beginning of this year, I decided to buy a book a month. Each book would be to increase my knowledge about antique and vintage jewellery. So far I have brought 2 books a month - okay so I can't count LOL

The truth is I love book and can not wait for my latest purchase to arrive. So when the 4Th edition of Cameos Old and New by Anna M Miller which has been revised and updated by Diana Jarrett caught my eye - It just had to buy it.
I already have the 3rd edition and was very pleased to find the latest books on cameos contained more excellent information

The book is for anyone new to cameos, experienced collectors, cameo jewellery dealers and also curators.
It is a fully comprehensive reference guide to:

• Where to hunt for cameos
• How to recognize - old from new, imitation and newer synthetic materials from original shell or stone cameos
• How to differentiate between ultrasonically produced and hand-carved cameos

 The book has loads more pages of photographs than the last, with the new cameo's illustrated that are being made today. Extensive and well-written chapters on cameos from their history, materials past and present to today's worldwide cameo designers 
Overall well worth buying if you are interested in cameos.
Taken from the book three examples that are included in the list of the twenty most common subjects of cameos:
The three muses, Medusa and profile of an anonymous female; the lady cameo that is mass-produced in stone and shell.

My interest in cameos has included the twentieth and twenty-first century costume jewellery type.
Particularly the one profile that is seen most often, I have christened her the popular goddess!
She does differ across productions as some vintage and second-hand ones tend to be plainer, whereas someones she is moulded more beautiful with flowing clothes, hair and flowers.  Some of the ones produced have a point at the end of her nose instead of round.

 

Seventies vintage cameo earrings clip-on style

Notice the profile of the popular goddess is quite plain

Again the cameo on this choker - she is plain in detail

Estimate the choker is the sixties to early seventies.

 

  

 

  

 

Note the last three have a sharper point to her nose

These cameos have been produced in all different types of jewellery with a variety of coloured backgrounds. From bracelets, necklaces, brooches, earrings and scarf clips. Even on the heel of a shoe or front!

http://www.wedgwoodmuseum.org.uk/collections/themes/2333/theme/2440/object/2685#2685
Elegant shoe produced by Wedgwood and information on their cameos 

Jewels and Finery Vintage Cameo Jewellery
Selection of our antique and vintage cameo jewellery. More cameo jewels to be added soon as we have them photographed and ready to list

Just have fun collecting and wearing cameos whatever they are made of or age.

Next book review will be one about Kenneth J Lane's jewellery and life, so please feel free to bookmark this blog


 

Juliana Jewelry Reference - DeLizza & Elster, Identification & Value Guide by Ann Pitman

In the last 2 months have brought 3 books for identifying vintage costume jewellery and for reference.Today's blog is on the absolutely fabulous book released last month from Ann Pitman.
Juliana Jewelry Reference Delizza & Elster, Identification & value guide.

DeLizza & Elster (D & E) named vintage jewellery is not as well known here in the UK as the US - only by the enlightened few. But with the family business manufacturing from 1947 to 1990. Some of the jewellery will have made its way to the UK. Unfortunately the company used a paper name tag only and did not sign the back of any of their jewellery. The tag of course was taken off and discarded to wear. But many pieces can be identified and this book will help.

D & E jewellery is also known under the name Juliana. However as the Juliana name was only used between 1964 to 1966, the family prefer the name D & E to be used.

Out of my 3 new books, this by far is my favorite (and my mothers) It has a history of the company, how the book was compiled, great views from collectors on why they are attracted to the jewellery and then page after page of beautiful jewellery with lots of information.
Not only does it show you how to identify the jewelley but the range of stones and beads used and the many designs. D& E made matching necklaces, bracelets and earrings. Jewelled belts, brooches and cufflinks, hat pins and hair barretts, scarf clips and dress rings, shoe and dress clips and even dog collars!
I recommend this book highly to anyone interested in vintage jewellery and costume jewellery history..
The only down side is that is not available on Amazon UK but can be ordered from America.

The other books that I will be reviewing over the next few weeks are:


Butler & Wilson 40th Anniversary book and Cameos Old and New (4th Edition ) by Anna M Miller.

Unfortunately Jewels and Finery does not have any D & E for sale at the moment.
So here are a few sparkling pieces of vintage jewellery from other companies

Sparkling Bar Brooch

Read My Pins by Madeleine Albright review

If you have an interest in vintage jewellery or brooches and pins then this book is a must.

Read My Pins by Madeleine Albright - Stories from a diplomat's jewel box

Published earlier this year makes a fascinating read. Not being political at all, I brought this book purely for the information about her brooches (pins) and I was not disappointed.

The book has over 200 photographs of brooches or pins from ones that cost only a few dollars to ones produced by Cartier. Antique and vintage jewellery mixed with newer brooches. Unknown designers to ones from Trifari, Monet, Swarovski, Kenneth Jay Lane, Christian Dior, Ciner, Haskell and Lea Stein. A Brooch made from a piece of the Berlin wall mixed with campaign badges. With a comprehensive "Pindex" with small photographs of each brooch/pin with information at the back of the book.

Madeleine Albright the US former Secretary of State has loved jewellery for many years adding to her collection as time and money has allowed. Wearing brooches in her lapel of her jackets, she wore a snake brooch to a meeting with Iraqi officials The snake was in response to a poem published by the Saddam Hussein's government because she had dared to criticize him.
Following the meeting, the press picked up on the brooches message; and soon she began to use the jewellery as part of her diplomatic arsenal. With "Read my pins"

Her collection of pins are now on tour in The Museum of Arts and Design, in New York, USA. The collection is there from 30th September 2009 to 31st January 2010. The collection will then move to Washington DC in the summer of 2010 and to Indianapolis, Indiana in the autumn of 2010. It is due to also tour internationally. If it comes to the UK, I would be one of the first to go.

Kitsch Jewelry Making & Vintage Redux by Brenda Schweder

Our family hates waste, I think it is because my husband and I were the product of the late fifties and sixties. Very little was wasted in those days. Being a keen gardener and from at least two generations of keen gardeners. Both my parents and grandparents kept chickens and had most of their garden given over to producing food. We used toilet rolls to plant beans and sweet peas. Kitchen waste and paper turned into rich compost. Carpet covered ground to suppress weeds and warm it up for those early potatoes. Cartoons were used as seed trays and a whole greenhouse, staging and cold frames were produced from off cuts and plastic and glass throw outs.

So it was a natural progression to keep the broken pieces of jewelry and "odd" or kitsch things that were no longer of use or had fallen out of fashion. I have a great imagination on what these pieces can be used for but unfortunately no longer the dexterity to carry out any crafts. Knowing that sometimes the ideas require items that can be difficult to find. We started to list a few kitsch items on our website as part of the beads, buttons and findings. Just as a section to create interest and maybe fire someone's imagination. Vintage marbles to wire for men's jewellery (love the used chipped look, just tumble to smooth the edges), plastic dogs that can be used for a charm bracelet. Gonks or trolls that can be collected or turned into earrings, bracelets, neckleces or phone charms. Scrabble pieces and dominoes can be re-used. For ideas or just to buy finished jewellery have a look at the artists on the website Ruby lane.

Our Kitsch section has been very successful, we have in fact sold over half the items listed and continue to receive visits from many people. So we will still continue to add kitsch items as and when we have sourced them!

When I saw a book just released in November last year that showed you how to use vintage jewellery to make new and interesting "new" jewelry - I was intrigued. At the time the book was only available from the USA. So I sent for it and though had a bit of a wait for delivery, it was certainly worth it.

The book was Vintage Redux by Brenda Schweder.

This is Brenda's second book, her first Junk to Jewelry was published the previous year. If you reuse vintage jewelry in any form of jewelry making, I would recommend this book. Brenda has some fantastic ideas and her refashioned jewelry looks brilliant.
I love bracelets and bangles and her use of brooches on plastic bangles is a great idea. Also using brass stampings to give a vintage appeal and to facelift a plain plastic bangle is something I had never thought of doing. I would have thought to glue stones to the bangle but they would have been fragile, but to wire stampings into the plastic gives a more stable piece of jewelry.

"Great minds think alike" comes to mind when I saw the use of cloisonne thimbles. Having just brought and photographed a pair of thimbles to add to our kitsch section. I can not recommend this book enough and have now just purchased her first book and I am eagily awaiting delivery

The photographs have been taken from the book