Crowning Glory

Break out the crown jewels! Queen Elizabeth II is celebrating her Diamond Jubilee, and antique dealers are anticipating a renewed interest in vintage costume jewelry with a royal look like crowns, scepters, and medallions.

The international celebration throughout 2012, marks the 60th anniversary of her accession to the thrones of seven countries upon the death of her father, King George VI, on February 6, 1952. Queen Victoria (1897) is the only other monarch in the history of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and a few other countries in the Commonwealth, to have celebrated a Diamond Jubilee. The first major event of the Jubilee celebrations will be the Diamond Jubilee Pageant, an equine-themed pageant in honor of the queen’s passion for horses, which will be held at Windsor Castle. The event will feature 550 horses and 1,100 performers from around the world. The show will be performed on May 10, 11, and 13 May.

More desirable than the new inexpensive imported jewelry, will be the jewelry issued in 1953, at the time of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation. All the renown costume jewelry manufacturers issued commemorative pieces which are difficult to find as many remained in families as favorite keepsakes. The high-quality pieces were issued by Barclay, Boucher, Butler & Wilson, Carnegie, Eisenberg, Jomaz, Rosenstein, Trifari, and Weiss. But mass production companies also issued their royal lines. Look for crown jewels also issued by ART, B. David, Castlecliff, Coro, Corocraft, Florenza, Kramer, Lisner, and Napier, just to name the more well-known. The appearance of these names will validate that it’s not a new piece, but in fact, vintage, and considered more regal.

The resurgence in popularity of grandiose rhinestone brooches, a few years ago (circa 1950s) with the emergence of the ‘bling’ era, has restored prices to book values…but those books are now over five years old. The Diamond Jubilee is expected to drive the prices up on the vintage jewelry to a level befitting its stature. The fact that this jewelry is now 60 years old and has weathered the test of time, attests to its quality. Mother’s Day is the weekend of the Diamond Jubilee Pageant. Treat her like a queen by crowning her with royal jewels.


Sourced from the Internet
Photo of Queen Elizabeth II sourced from Wikipedia
Jewelry photo & photo collage by Collage

Jewelry For All Seasons

As soon as the temperature drops to the low 80’s, out comes the sterling jewelry…the charm bracelets and the silver chain necklaces. No, sterling jewelry is not seasonal, but by relegating jewelry to specific seasons for practical reasons, it will ‘weather’ the test of time. Nothing can be more caustic to silver jewelry than the salt produced by perspiration. (Sweat as we refer to it in the heat and humidity of Houston, Texas.) Combined with perfume and the chemicals in lotions, and you have a formula for disaster.

Other jewelry fares better in summer...Bakelite, Lucite, and beaded jewelry, both glass and stone. But it’s still advisable to wipe this jewelry with a clean, damp cloth after wear, as those same chemicals in the lotions could affect the coloring of jewelry made from chemical byproducts like Bakelite. Every woman has her favorite pieces of jewelry, but keep in mind, the more often you wear it, the more likely you are to ‘wear’ it out. Why not balance the usage by rotating jewelry by the season. Consulting with Jewel Collect member and one of the most knowledgeable jewelry sources I know, Molly Garza, she provided this list of recommendations:

Spring – Costume jewelry in the pastel palette (as the inexpensive metal alloys will deteriorate just like silver, for all the same reasons…perspiration, chemicals, and perfume.) And of course, wear your sterling silver jewelry.

Summer – Break out the Bakelite bangles and beaded bracelets, and wear jewelry that doesn’t fit snuggly, so that it has air space. It’s best to wear costume jewelry brooches during this season as they’re affixed to your clothing and not your skin in the hot summer months.

Fall – Resurrect the costume jewelry but in the autumn colors when the temperature drops, and break out sterling silver again.

Winter– Show off the showy rhinestone jewelry during the holiday season.

Gold really is the gold standard. It can be pulled up from the bottom of the ocean three hundred years after it went down with the ship, and it emerges it mint condition. There were plenty of good reasons why a king’s ransom was mostly gold. A much better choice when the temperature soars. There was also a time when women had day jewelry and evening jewelry. The day jewelry was yellow gold; the evening jewelry was white gold. Now it’s more a matter of personal preference, but whatever the color of gold…year round, any time.

By selectively wearing jewelry based on the season, your jewelry collection can become family heirlooms that can be passed down from generation to generation.