12 Days of Gifts, Day 11

I realize it may appear we're falling behind here...and your right! But, it's only because we've been so busy in the physical world that our virtual efforts have been sidelined. Either way - it's Day 11. Can you believe it? Here we've got something that epitomizes all that we love about antique jewelry - original rose cut diamonds, antique turquoise, 14k white gold with handmade yellow gold earwires - totally one of a kind & they look incredible on.

Cycles of Life: Rings from the Benjamin Zucker Family Collection

For those who follow our blog & our passion for antique jewelry, consider this. If you find yourself in New York City from Oct 30 - Dec 6th, make room in your schedule for a visit to Les Eluminures. Titled, 'Cycles of Life: Rings from the Benjamin Zucker Family Collection' - this exhibition collects over 40 exceptional museum-quality rings selected from the private collection of one of the world's leading gem dealers, experts, and connoisseurs. These will be on  public view together for the first time - the collection spans from 3rd century A.D. through to the later part of the 19th century (*see examples below). Not to be missed! See you there.

 

 

From the Catalog : Since his first purchase in 1970, Benjamin Zucker has assembled one of the largest collections of marriage rings in private hands and a collection of diamond jewellery that is unrivalled, even by De Beers. With each ring selected for its exceptional quality of stones, rarity, and level of artistry, the collection features many fine examples of signet rings ranging from the 3rd to the 17th century; ancient Roman friendship and engagement rings; medieval posy rings; Renaissance and Baroque wedding rings; Jewish marriage rings, and memorial and death’s head memento mori rings from the 17th to the 19th century. They include a significant grouping of precious diamond-set rings. Many boast provenances dating back generations to Europe’s most prominent collecting families, including the de Clercqs and the Rothschilds. Ultimately, these exquisite jewels – many of which have been the subject of national and international museum exhibitions, loans, and publications – form a remarkable testament to a discerning eye.

Oct 10-13 : Antique Sale

 

* in store only

June Birthstone Sale!

Join us this weekend in both locations and receive 15% off all Pearl Jewelry! Get a beautiful gift for all of the June Birthdays in your life.

May Fare

The stores are abloom in activity with the studio humming along just trying to keep up. Lots of gorgeous new jewelry coming in weekly with incredible rings being made (custom & stock) and so many amazing antiques coming & going before we even get a chance to catalog them! Blogging efforts have taken a bit of a back seat so below, a pictoral sampling of some of the action with a promise of more regular posts soon.

Rings!

 

Gem Show!

Birthdays!

 

 

Antiques!

Planting!

New Antiques

Just in time for Spring we've added a bunch of new antiques to the online shop. So many gorgeous new pieces coming in and we want to share them all, before they're gone! Below is an incredible 14k Victorian ring with Opals & Rubies, in our Cambridge shop now.

Gold & Whiskey

A slight detour today from our scheduled engagement ring posts as we just had to share this Art Deco beauty with you. This is an incredibly set 3 carat whiskey Citrine ring whose facets both absorb & reflect light in equal measure - the depth of the color is really beyond compare. It has a perfectly low profile on the finger for such a large stone & the detailed work of the 14k white gold setting allows the stone to shine from every angle. This can't help but illuminate any hand it graces!

 

12 Days of Gifts, Day 9

Do you have a queen in your life? We've got just the thing! Cut Steel & Marcasite Jewelry. We've been slowly collecting some really nice examples of this. Cut-steel jewelry is jewelry 'set' with tiny faceted and polished steel studs, fashioned to resemble gemstones and usually riveted in place. The Swiss pioneered this process as early as the 1700's often using cut steel as a substitute for diamonds. Later Marcasite was introduced as it took a higher shine than the steel & didn't rust. These pieces are almost always made with Silver & the craft involved in making them was exceptional. We've got some gorgeous pieces from the Georgian era up to the Deco period. 

Small Business Saturday

Two of the years biggest shopping days are upon us. For Black Friday we are offering an online discount of 10% off any web purchases (antiques included) - starting now! Just enter the code BLACKFRY at checkout & you will see the discount. We will be celebrating Small Business Saturday at both stores with a drawing for some free earrings & other festive activities. Please stop in, look around & whatever you do - support your local community businesses!

Mourning Jewlery

It's the height of Summer - the sun is shining, the air is warm and here we are showcasing some beautiful Mourning Jewlery! Though there is always the possibility to view this genre as something dark it actually is about celebrating life, honoring love and (as many of the Victorians saw it) fashion. We covet alot of these period pieces & started picking up a few to test the waters in the stores and have been pleasantly surprised how many people share our enthusiasm for these unique ( &  collectible) beauties.


Incredible 'In Memory Of' gold locket / brooch with gorgeous blue enamel & glass back that opens.

 

          Large Vulcanite love birds locket with intricate detail - strung with Topaz & Gold Beads. 

                                 French enamel & gold brooch with woven hair behind glass.

 

 

Jet Pendant necklace that we had in the shop briefly but had to re-string, back in Cambridge now.

Victorian Jewelry (Circa 1840-1890)

Victorian Jewelry (Circa 1840-1890)

The second day of our 'Antique Jewelry Primer' brings us to the Victorian era. Probably our collective favorite & the period which inspires us most in terms of our own aesthetic sensibility. Delicate, intricate motifs (often inspired by nature) prevailed with floral motifs and symbolic themes found on rings, lockets, brooches and earrings. 

 Victorian Cameo Necklace

Queen Victoria influenced much of the fashion of the world.  By the mid century, and with the death of Prince Albert, the Queen went into a long period of mourning and black jewelry came into fashion.  Jet jewelry is timeless and strikingly contemporary as it goes with so many of our own (current) fashion trends. Later in the century, silver jewelry again took its place as diamonds and pearl set jewelry were once more in style. The end of the Victorian Era saw a move towards color & light with jewelers invoking more feminine styles &  brightening their designs with emeralds, sapphires & spinel. 

Georgian Jewelry (Circa 1714-1835)

Georgian Jewelry (Circa 1714-1835)

We covet any treasure from this elegant era of jewelry history! Tastes and style changed considerably over the span of this era. The start of the period was mainly gold and silver with diamonds, sapphires and emeralds. Later though, the fall of the aristocracy and neo-classicism led jewelry designs into a different world altogether - one of less costly materials and semi-precious gem stones. During this time, a rising middle class began to afford the luxury of jewels and finery. Paste jewelry came into vogue as a substitute for diamonds by a growing middle class that couldn't quite afford them. Pastes (which are glass composites) are softer than ordinary glass but have a higher index of refraction and dispersion that give them great brilliancy and fire. Quality paste stones from this era were faceted & polished in the same way an actual diamond would've been cut - and often, no less beautiful.

 This stick pin is a simple example of paste jewelry from the end of the Georgian era.  

 

New Antiques Available Online!

We have been working hard to collect some more amazing antiques, and have only now had enough time to post them to our web store. There is a small collection of new antiques posted on the site, you can check them out here. These are some photos to show you some of the great pieces that are now being offered. Of course, because they are all one of a kind be sure to grab them quickly! And check back often for more antiques or stop into one of our stores.

T R E A S U R E

Our stone setter took over the family business from his father who started out as a bench jeweler in the 1940's. We've now been working with him for a number of years & value his level of craft honed over a lifetime of work. As we've been bringing him more & more antique pieces to work on, recently he pulled out a drawer from his desk & handed it to Rebekah saying - 'maybe there's something in here you can use?'. Later that night when we had a chance to open it up we could hardly contain our excitement! Within are countless envelopes of precious, semi-precious & old synthetic stones as well as hand carved cameo's dating back to the 1800's. So rare to find a beautiful (& useful) time capsule like this. Expect to see a steady stream of unique pieces coming into the stores as a result..

 

 

 

Gifts, Day 3

When we expanded our Northampton store we did so to include more space for our jewelry display but also to accommodate an expanding selection of objects, new & old. If you come in looking for earrings you might just leave with a set of vintage glasses, a sequined clutch, candelabra or vintage bangles!