Yesterday I paid a visit to my favorite jeweler -- the go to lady when I need repairs or have questions. I am learning a lot from her and it's fun for both of us to go through my found treasures and make identification of stones and metals and all that.
Back in November my mother brought me a bag of jewelry belonging to her late sister (my favorite aunt) that weighed at least 10 pounds. She had been on her way to the flea market with it, when I derailed her and had her bring it to me. You have to understand that in her younger years, my aunt was a very wealthy woman; she used to be a high fashion model in NY -- she once was even a dancer in the Folies Bergere. In fact, that's how she met her husband, who was a very successful Wall Street type. She spent a lot of years dripping in jewels. She was the type who had fakes made of her "good" jewelry so as not to risk being robbed. Well, my mother had already sorted through the "good" jewelry and either sold it or kept it. What was left was what she thought was the "junk." Here's a pic of my aunt (without as much bling as she often wore) 
So, I started going through the bag a few weeks ago. There IS a lot of "junk jewelry" as they used to call it. Kramer rhinestone necklaces, LOTS of watches encrusted with rhinestones, brooches, bracelets, you name it! Junk to some I guess -- treasures to those of us who love vintage jewelry! A few things gave off little hints of being something more. You don't usually see 18K gold clasps on faux pearls, for instance. So I took some things in to Joan and it turns out we have a strand of real cultured pearls worth about $800, a gold, diamond and ruby watchband, AND a gold pendant made from a rare French gold coin (the coin alone is worth $280 as a collectible) adorned with synthetic rubies. Joan has all these goodies right now -- she is re-stringing the pearls for me and further testing and valuating the watchband and pendant.
Keep an eye on PastGems.com over the next several weeks as I begin listing this bling left to us from my aunt. Some of her things I am keeping for sentimental reasons, but some are just things that I wouldn't wear myself -- although lovely, just not my style. So in the spirit of recycling, her goodies will go out into the world and brighten someone else's life. Happy Easter everyone!
xoxo, Karen
