There is a lot of confusion about the term “Vintage Jewelry” or “Vintage Jewellery”. Let me try to clarify this issue for you once and for all and give you the proper definition of this term plus a few others related to jewelry.

For a piece of jewelry to be authentic vintage it must be at least 20 years old. Some dealers and collectors classify vintage as 25 years or more. One cannot make “vintage jewelry” as it has to be at least that old. You can use vintage parts, beads and findings but that does not make your jewelry vintage as it does not make it old. If it is made today, it is new Contemporary Jewelry.

When defined as Vintage at our Vintage Jewelry Site, it means that piece is 20 years old or older. When you shop with us, if a piece is called Vintage it is authentic Vintage, at least 20 years old. For the current time frame, jewelry of the 1980s can be classified as Vintage as it falls between the 20 and 25 years old parameter. Jewelry from the 1990s or newer is not vintage yet.

Antique Jewelry must be 100 years or older. If it isn’t that old, than it is vintage, even if it looks older. If it is not 20 years or older than it is neither vintage nor antique.

If a piece of jewelry is a worthy piece but not 20 years old, than it is defined as pre-owned until it reaches the minimum threshold of 20 years of age to become Vintage.

Unfortunately, these terms are used, misused and over-used to describe many styles made today. That is not correct.

For Contemporary Jewelry with a vintage or antique flair, they should be described as vintage inspired jewelry, vintage style jewelry, antique inspired jewelry or antique style jewelry, even if parts of the jewelry made today are old.

The terms upcycled and recycled jewelry could apply to Contemporary Jewelry if the bulk of the piece is old. It requires that a complete (broken or not) old piece be used as the core for a new design. I would certainly hope that anyone making Upcycled Jewelry would use a broken old piece that cannot be repaired and not destroy a perfectly good old piece of jewelry to make something new, unless it can be easily reversed. I do use old hopelessly broken vintage and antique jewelry to create some of my new designs. I have seen several designs made today from perfectly good and quite valuable old jewelry. Some of these are sold at a lower price than the original older piece is worth!

I have been in the jewelry business for a long time, both as a designer and as dealer. I carry both Vintage and Antique Jewelry and sometimes use vintage and antique parts in my new contemporary jewelry.

Whatever definition is used in our jewelry site, rest assured we have invested lots of time researching and are absolutely positive of the authenticity of the jewelry being offered.

Hope this helps to clarify this issue!

One day late but still in time, here are my personal opinions about the 82nd Academy Awards.

As far as jewelry is concerned, and style for that matter, there wasn’t really anything extraordinary – except for Sandy Powell – she stole the show! A well deserved Oscar to a very talented Costume Designer with an
incredible sense of style. She looked stunning and did not even wear a gown.

Every one else was ho-hum in my opinion, some of those dresses looked like fabric tornadoes and there was no color in the jewelry, only boring diamonds.Some red, which I like but not enough to make me change my opinion. If I saw one more nude color dress, I would scream!

Too uniform and expected, those stylists need to get more creative and take some chances. Made me miss the days of Cher.

The cast of “Precious” looked beautiful in royal blue.

As much as I love the hosts, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, I thought the whole show was boring, except for the dance portion. No musical performances?

They did not include some famous actors that passed away last year, like Farrah Fawcett and Bea Arthur. Yes, they did movies too. Missing them is worse than including Michael Jackson, which I can understand. He is the King of Pop (no one has taken his place) but he did two very successful movies.

They are so at a loss for what to do that the phrase “And the Winner is…” was brought back after being banished for quite some time. For years it became “And the Oscar goes to…”Did they really think that would be exciting?

There is one thing that I really like about the show – a drop down background made of several different lamp shades. Go figure! It was so bad I was paying more attention to the set than to what was actually happening on the stage. No offense to the set designers, much to the contrary. They did a wonderful job. In my opinion, the best in many years.

Overall it was utterly run of the mill, which makes me think I will find something better to do next year.

Unless you love Avant Garde fashion you probably never heard of Alexander McQueen.  He was one of the most brilliant minds of our new century. His collections are truly art to wear and his shows were always memorable art performances.

Sadly, Alexander McQueen died two days ago, apparently took his own life.  I can see some parallels between him and Van Gogh.  Both brilliant to the point of insanity.

He was young, about 40 years. A rebel and a genius at odds with an industry that is more interested in selling than creating. You can see a retrospective of Alexander McQueen’s work from 2001 to his last collection at the New York Magazine site.

His New York store on 14th Street is closed until next week and an impromptu memorial is growing on the icy sidewalks.

His death leaves a void of creativity in the fashion world. He will be greatly missed.  As Blondie once sang “Die Young, Stay Pretty”.

He was very pleased with his latest collections, shown in London this past October (2009) which sadly became his last. Titled “20,000 Leagues Under The Sea” and inspired by Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, it was streamed live on the web.

You can watch it here:

Art is that which moves you in any internal direction, be it emotional or intellectual, preferably both.

This is Art, ephemeral, ever changing, moving, powerful as life itself.

Ksenyia Simonova is the Ukranian artist that just won the Ukraine’s version of the popular TV show “America’s Got Talent”.   It proves that even Commercial Television can present Art, and that Art is to be lived and shared.

Bravo! It is wonderful.

This is my first video ever and your comments are appreciated. You do not need to be signed up or logged in to leave a comment but all comments are moderated. We would love to hear from you!

Newly added antique and vintage jewelry and jewelry boxes at the website.

Please use this link to see all newly added Vintage Jewelry.

There is an enormous amount of credit due Michele Obama for her accomplishments prior to becoming America’s First Lady. After that, the most talked about is her style.  Well, I will jump on this band wagon. It is a bit late but not too late.  I tried to avoid it.

As a vintage jewelry dealer and collector I have noticed on the past year or so a trend growing towards large flower brooches.  Even I was attracted to them!  Maybe it  started when the 60s were revived recently.  At any rate,  I had noticed that before the Obamas trip to Italy, where the First Lady wore a sunny yellow dress and a large green flower brooch.  She looked beautiful, as always, I love her independent sense of style.   Wonder if she knows those are the Brazilian flag colors – I was flattered!

Our store has a beautiful collection of those brooches.  My favorites are:

Vintage Lisner Red Enamel Flower Brooch

Pink Enamel on Copper Dimensional Flower Brooch

Faux Pearls and Turquoise Enamel Kramer Flower Pin or Brooch

The center rhinestones tremble when you move!

We have many different ones, you can use this link to see all our vintage flower brooches.

Prices range from $20.00 to $225.00 for my own  Biwa Pearl and Branch Coral flower.

If there was ever a real connection between rock and fashion, Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren (of Sex Pistols fame) are the living proof of that.   Their little shop “World’s End” could now be considered a historic site both in fashion and music.

I always loved her style and her clothes, even though they were out of my reach. Underlying her collections through the years is one theme, pure self expression.  Regardless of the inspiration or whatever time period this inspiration came from, it was always about how you felt. You could be a pirate today and a 50s rocker tomorrow. To me that is art to wear, regardless of what form it may take.

In 1981 I had the privilege of meeting Gene Krell, then manager of  World’s End, during a visit to Rio de Janeiro.  My son was an infant and my family had invited me to stay with them for a while.

Gene is a really sweet guy and we both stuck out in the crowd in Rio back then. He was there to research and to introduce the collection to the Media. I had the honor of having my jewelry used for the “Pirates” collection photo shoot. My then current jewelry collection was inspired by the 1800′s and Modernism. An odd mix, but quite stunning and just right for the time. After all this was the 80s. Living in the East Village I was very aware of what was happening then, it was part of my everyday life. Unfortunately, my copies of the magazines were lost in time in my many travels. I still search for them and hope to find them at some point. I returned to New York and he returned to London.  We stayed in touch for a while but then lost track of each other.

In the meantime, he has written Dame Vivienne Westwood’s biography for the book series “Fashion Memoir”, a must read as her history is fascinating.

This past Friday during an interview with British Jonathan Ross at his TV Show, she discussed shopping, style, consumerism and the survival of our species. I am glad to know we still have much in common as people in spite of our geographic and life style differences.

Looking beautiful as always, dressed in 7 meters of silk (about 7 yards)  she talks about making do with what we have, shopping our own closets and preserving the environment.  I believe she did not mention vintage as after all, she still needs to sell her own collections. It was a very interesting interview and both parts are embedded below. Enjoy!

Part 1

If you like Antiques and Collectibles you probably enjoy watching the Antiques Roadshow on PBS. The thrill of the hunt becomes ever more alluring with each great find.  Just this past week the show broke it’s record with a collection of Jade carvings brought in to the taping of the show in Raleigh, NC. The collection which was inherited by it’s current owner, was purchased by the father during the 1940s when he was stationed in Asia.

The episode will probably air on the 2010 season of the show.  This is the first time ever when an apraisal totals over 1M.

I can’t help but feel very sad since I heard about Michael Jackson’s unexpected death.

Here is how I want to remember him:

My son (who was a little kid then) and I will always have great memories from this time:

Thanks for the wonderful memories.
You will live forever.
RIP, Michael.

Who would know that your finds could be an investment? I am not an investment expert, so see these two shows by Consuelo Mack Wealthtrack which aired on PBS. Ms. Mack was voted Best Business Host by Money Magazine.

Of particular interest to this blog are the appearances by Patrizia Di Carrobio, Jewelry Expert and Dealer. Her history is amazing, from Italy to America. Her grandmother shared a New York apartment with Elsa Schiaparelli in the 1930s and begin consulting wealthy Americans on Fashion and Lifestyle choices. Patrizia moved to the US in 1980 and begin her career at Christie’s where she became one of Christie’s first women auctioneers.  Her taste in impeccable, her  opinions are practical and valuable. I really enjoy her appearances and I trust you will too.

The first video was made in the Spring of 2008.  The second is from March 2009.  Both are timeless and have great information for all categories of Arts, Jewelry and Collectibles.  More information about this show can be found at PBS.org, your local Public Television station or at wealthtrack.com

Don’t feel bad when buying Vintage Jewelry or Collectibles. A wise purchase can be a palpable investment you will wear or enjoy for many years to come.

Vintage Jewelry as an Investment Videos.  To learn more about Patrizia visit her site at PatriziadiCarrobio.com

Now have hubby watch it with you