rs

illlilfllilJill[illilllll
illtI
B Y ParRr c r a S H A c K E L F oRD

r/tlueless whenit comesto couture,I feela

t
\zbit of a poseurwhenthe subjectturnsto
fashion. a uniformof mostlyblackand
Wearing
white, I'm hardlythe one to adviseon col-
lectibleclothing.Then I realizedvintageand
estate jewelry is my personalobsession.It
seemedonlyrightto marryfashion,
fanaticism
andwork.
Thisseason's trendslendthemselves
beau-
tifullyto vintageandestatepieces.
Long,lean,
ladylikesilhouettesshoutedout for a bit of
bravado.Bold iewelryadornedthe necksand
wristsof fall '08'smodels.But antiquejewelry
is an investment of a lifetime,piecesacquired
because of their uniqueappealto the ownel
piecesthat will carryfrom seasonto season
theyreflectthe styleandtasteof a dis-
because
cernlngeye.
 .*:
.*:..

:i&,
:s:t.

Il ri s W c t oric m / . ) 1 o u r / r i / r g j e w e lrbgcr n g le b r cr ce le t is o we o lfh o f e n grcrved detoi l i n t4 k go[c!

l c c e / l i s . A - o n r L ilfio n e s Je we h g .
wl tl 't blc rc ke/ rc r / n e e

BEYONDACCESSORY \\th ilc it is L r n ltli el .vto;rfl ecl l hc r'.rl tte trf thc
'ttl l l l trrl ,'tl l l -l l l (rf(r ()l l
There arc [w(] walysl() cr)ttteb1' llie ce ( L iltle ss il i s
"t,.,["
jc u ' elr5,T he lirst js to in he rit i r r \ r hic h c as c tlr ,.r t l,.r le r l fa sh iotr i s l i chl c,.'l tr.l \\'hi i l l l ;i v

y ()L r lrunt
r irg ;rn(l Sa thcrjngh ; r sbec t l c lr , t r e scclr to lle a n ()Ll tl l l ()t1etlsctti tl g l l rr\\'l )l .r!

- f fhiq als()lt]e .tlts]'(rLth . lv eles sc t r t t -

[ q r1ou b e ju sl th c tltir r g i rr;t \1crr.A \\rorl .l rr urt'.rri rrg

o1 'l)iece lf 1 ' ot rar e luc liy

lhc st5 '1e
t r o l trr,rer ;r L ilr i( lL lcl) ie ce ()f i ct'trcl rt'i s;l l w ays i l r ql \'l e,

t o in he rit jcrvclry',th ink c ar c ' t t r lll'

L . n ( )Lrglr a n ( ] th e r e is n O better c(rttvcrsatti ()l lsLi l Tttl f

be l L rrebrc.rllrngit Ltp ()l rcset t illgs L( ) llc s . ;r t a sljltc' cl clin n er partl '
fffecE
All the jewelers I talked to agreedthat in
generaljewelry is defined as followsrantique
is at leastloo yearsold; vintageis old; estate
is anythingpreviouslyworn. They fall into the
followingtime periodsr
All Georgianjewelry
Georgian-17'14-183o:
was handmadeand was largelydifferent col-
ors of gold, pearls and colored gemstones.
Faceting was largely unknown, and most
stones had closed backs. Paste was in high
demand and was not considereda compro-
mise;bows,flowers and featherswere popu-
lar motifs.
Victorian-t83os-l9ol: Popular jewelry of
the era included miniatures,long dramatic
earrings,matched bracelets,fringe and the
emergence of the popularity of diamonds,
Mourning jewelry was also popular after
PrinceAlberts death in t86t.
Edwardian-t9o2-t915: Edwardian jewelry
has inspired many of the popular designersof
today. Primarilywhite metal and diamonds,the
jewelry has an airy light appearance.Wide dog
collarswere popularasQueenAlexandrafavored
the style which covereda scaron her neck.
Deco-t9zos-'5os:Distinctivepieceschar-
acterized by bold, geometric shapes, they
usuallycontain a liberal use of white metals
and diamondswith punchesof color. Besides
modernism,outsideculturesinfluencedjewel-
ry makerswho filled a demandfor carvedjade
and other piecesreflectingthe Orient.
Retro-l94os-'5os3 Cocktail jewelry
reignedsupreme,and the influenceof movie
stars eclipsedthat of royalty.Becauseof the
demand for metal for the war effort, jewelry
designersworked with different alloysto cre-
ate piecesin multiplecolorsof gold.Semi-pre-
cious stones were popular with precious
stonesbeing used largelyfor accents.
l:ven or perhaps
for the professionals,
Ee s pecially fo r th e p rofe s s ionals ,
there are piecesthat markthe heart-
evenif they end up in the possession
of someoneelse.
WandaAllen Lessa specificpiece
than certainelements,Allen hasa passion
for jade eitheraloneor mixedwith pearlsor gold.
She saysSouthSeapearlswith a Deco claspworn to the side
piece.flearingjadedescribedas a "translu-
are a stunning,stand-alone
cent gumdrop"gave me a newly acquiredrespect,and desirefor, the
ttoni"n.,
BertelsmeierTwo carator larger,emerald-cutdiamondring,
white and cleanin the originalArt Deco mounting.Who could blame
her?
l I you are lo oking to a cq uir e. i 1- liecof
e s howsm e an lB t h - c e n t u r yp e n d a r r ts e t w i t h
e s t ate iew elry tltere a re a fe w t hings lo
kn o w T he most imllorta nt,as wit h any c ol-
l e c t ible,is w orkwith a re pu tab ledealerTom
. when it c om est o a n t i q u ei e w e l r y" H e t h i n k s
T i v o l and Wa nd a Alle n, who hav e joined
f o rc e sin prov idin ge xcep tion aliewelr yand
r e l i ableappr a isa ls,h ave sp en t t heir whole
c a reersin t he ie welryb usirres slndus t r y An
i n d u stryt hat o nce wa s a b usines s whic
, h is
w h y T ivol w ill co urrselyou to k now y our
d e a ler and to se ek an dl)l)ra is alwhen y ou
a r e buyirrga vinta ge or an tique piec e. I n
o r d ert o dete rmin eth e qu alityo f a piec ey ou
n e e d to conside r, ind ivid ua lly ,"t he gem -
st o n es,meta l,lab or a nd d esign, "s ay sTiv ol.
' ' W h enyou are lo oking al d vi nt ageCar lier
piece," he says, "you have to look beyond
t h e u se of t he ston es Th e ca ch etof t he jew-
e l r y house make sit extreme lyr ar e. "
TO TRENDOR NOT TO TREND
Chris C arrett a ma na ge rat Chur c hillin
also \u gg esISslrop l)ir t gwit lr a m er -
F a i r w ay,
c h a nt w ith a de ep se lectiona nd a k nowl-
e d g e ablesta ff He a nd own er Sally Hilk ene
h a v e noticed Chu rch ills clie nt s hav e been
pa r t icularlyinte restedin pla tinum ar r ddia-
m o nd bracele tsfrom th e 19 30s But as lr e
t 04 i K \\s \s ( : l l \ s l,\ ( , 1. . s
ta-kyellowgold
ChrisGarrett Russian
hand-constructedring set with a
four-carat,round diamond with
bezelset, Burmese-ruby
accents.
'"'
{*- r-' i--* i- tn profile,
rhe backof rhe ring
-\ risesto a pointechoing
thesilhou-
l*.-* L l-*
L** \-*f l*..*.. \*l ette of the Russian
oniondomes.
Sally Hilkene A set featuring imperial
topaz,the ring a largescissorcut surroundedby a double
row of diamondsthat would surelyspan knuckleto knuckle'The ear-
ringsfeaturethe samestones,but with a dramatic,pear-shaped
drop.
Tom Tivol A tgth-century,6.5 carat demantoid garnet ring with a
color set in a white gold,engravedsettingwith dia-
clearyellow-green
mondson either side.The stonesand workmanshipboth outstanding,
Tivoldeemedit'goose bumpygorgeous."
for the confiderrtfashionista.
show-stop1:ers
int aglios nat ur a lp e a r l sa n d a s h e l l c a m e o M o u r n i r r g j e w e l r y a l l - b l a c k l t i e c e s tn a d e
Car r et t not es , " S a l l y d o e s n 't f o l l o w t r e n d s p o p u l a rb y O u e e nV i c t o r i aa f t e rt h e de a th o f
h e r h u s b a n d , w o u l d f i n d a p l a c e i n yo u r
old piec esar e d w a y f o r p e o p l e t o r e i n t e r - h e a r tw l r e t h e ry o u r c l o s e th o l d s C a l vi nKl e i n
" A n t i q u ei e w - o r A l e x a n d e rM c O u e e n .
llr et s om et hingi n a n e w w a y
elr y allows peop l et o r e k i n d l et h e p a s t '
Nanc y Ber t e l s m e r e ro f L i l l i a n e 's F i n e BE YOUROWN BESTFRIEND
lewelr yagr ees .S h e a n d h e r p a r t r r e rC , erald B u t t h e i n t e r e s t i n gt h i n g i s n 't l u st th e
Chait r nan,hav eb e e n s e l l i n gj e w e l r yto gen- i e w e l r y ,i t 's t h e j e w e l r yb u y e r " Wo m e n a r e
er : linr r s of r ene a l c r r s t n m e r sO n e o f t h e i r b u y i n gi e w e l r yt l r e m s e l v e sa, n d n o t l u st a n y
m os t c om m on r e q u e s t s ,a n d o n e o f t h e j e w e l r y ,b u l s o m e [ i r n e s w o r l d - c l a ssg e m -
r nos tenjoy ablel o F i l l ,i s f o r a n l r q u ee r r g a g e - s t o n e s , "s a y s T i v o l . l t 's p o s s i b l e t ha t yo u r
m ent r ings .Lilli a n e 'sh a s a b r o a d s e l e c t i o n s w e e t h e a r tw o u l d s e e t h e a p p e al o f th e
ol v inlage alr d e s l d l e r i n g s t h a t a r e i n t l t e D e c o b o x - c u t d i a r n o n d t e n n i s br a ce l e t,
Edwar dians t y le ,w h i t e m e t a l s w i t h a l o t o f l m a g i n i n gt h e f l a w l e s ss t o n e sd r a p e d ca su -
det ail ar r d eng r a v i n g ,w h i c h h a s i n s p i r e d a l l y a r o u n d y o u r w r i s t . B u t w o u l d yo u r
m any c ont em p o r a r y d e s i g n e r s . " S o m e - h o r r e yk n o w t h a t t h e P e r s i a nt u r q u o i sed r o p
t im es , "Ber t els m e i esr a y sw i t h a s r n i l e ," t h e earringsset in the twist of soFtgold rope
pr opos alhappe n sr i g h t h e r e m a d ey o u r l ) u l s eq u i c k e r a
r b i l ? P e r lr a p sBu t
Ber t els m eie rs h o w e d m e m a n y l o v e l y i f y o u s l i p o n t h e p a i r o f t r a n s l u c e n ti a d e
piec es ,but I wa s s u r p r i s i n g l ye n a m o r e do f b a n g l eb r a c e l e t sa n d " i t s i n g s , "a s T i vo l p r e -
t he Vic t or ia exa m l l l e s S h e d e m o n s t r a t e d c l i c t s ,i t m i g h t b e t i m e t o t a k e t h i ng s i l l to
s n d e c o n o m yo f t h e D a y a n d
t lr e c lev er nes a y o u r o w n h a n d s .l f y o u r s w e e t h e a r itn q u i r e s
Night ear r r ngst h a t a l l o w t h e d r o l t o f t h e a b o u t t h e p u r c h a s e( w h a ta r e t h e c h a n ce s? ) ,
ear r ingt o be r etn o v e ds o i t i s s r m l l l eb y d a y you can raise an eyebrow and coyly reply,
and s t ur t ning b y n i g h l L a r g e d r a m a l i c " Wh a t ?T h i s o l d t h i n g ? "<)
Eas t er n lndian t a s s e l e a r r i n g s w o u l d b e