Jewels and Finery Craft Now online

Just a quick update

Jewels and Finery Craft is now online with a payment gateway (At Last)

Took a lot longer than expected. Now we will start to add lots of vintage beads, buttons and craft supplies.

We did start to add a few weeks ago, but found that some people were trying to buy things as Google was indexing them. However they were not contacting us to pay and so made the decision to wait for the main payment gateway first.

We will be adding Paypal at some point also. Google checkout is already working.

Just a few of the items we will have for sale soon

Replacement pins for brooches

Craft books that are used and maybe out of print

Vintage buckles

Vintage glass foiled beads

Vintage buttons

Asiana Wedding Magazine

A couple of months ago we were approached by the Asiana Magazine to use some of our vintage jewellery in their photo shoot for their Autumn edition.

The Autumn edition is now out and even if you do not intend to get married - please take a look it is very inspiring

The beautiful wedding dresses that are on show in such vibrant colours with some sparkling jewellery appeals to my closeted fashion taste. The use of jewellery is so imaginative, wearing more than one necklace, use of single earrings and vintage pearl necklaces as hair ornaments.

I could not find a tiara many moons ago, when I got married. In the eighties the only tiaras and head pieces was in silver or gold. I as usual wanted something that was not available - a mother of pearl one. In the end (a week before the wedding) I sat down with an old mother of pearl bead necklace, MOP sequins, white ribbon and some garden wire and made one. Unfortunately the wedding photographs are not close enough to see it fully.

 


The models in the magazine are also stunning, both male and female. (One of their models in the last edition taught my daughter and son to drive. He was excellent as a driving instructor).

     

Photographs from Asiana magazine Autumn 2010.
1980s wedding photograph Flairs Photographs

Update to Jewels and Finery websites

We have been very busy over the last few days. We have added lots more antique and vintage jewellery to our website Jewels and Finery. We still have another 5 large boxes full of jewellery to add and we are still  purchasing several times a week many more pieces that are waiting to be evaluated and cleaned.

Vintage Star brooch signed Corocraft

Along with jewellery we also have about double the amount in beads and buttons along with findings to add to our other website Jewels and Finery Craft. To be honest the day are not long enough..........

 Just one of the genuine pieces of Vintage jewellery we have

An update for Jewels and Finery Craft is that we are now in "test" mode. In the next day or two we hope to be live and able to take payments!!

Dating Vintage Jewellery - The Jade Chip Rage 1970s

One of the easiest piece of vintage jewellery to date is the jade chip ones from the seventies. However to identify whether it is actually jade is much much harder!

Mock vintage jade chip ring from Exquisite

It was all the rage in the 1970s to have a ring, bracelet or necklace with bright green jade type chips in. Many were imported from China and Hong Kong but the UK jewellery company Exquisite also did a range.
This fashion craze started around the mid 1970s and lasted a couple of years before drifting through an amethyst or lavender coloured jade chip jewellery (which was not as fashionable) before finally petering out.

 Adjustable faux jade chip vintage ring

Jade jewellery has continued being produced to today. The use of the gemstone is steeped in history, thought to have healing properties and slow aging. Brings happiness and good fortune to the owner. In particular is thought to protect the dead and connect with their spirits.

There are two forms of jade: nephrite and jadeite.
Nephrite is a tough mineral and difficult to break. Its name comes from the word kidney and so is believed to heal the kidneys.
Jadeite is a more granular form and when polished has a slight dimple form.It is as hard as quartz.

 Real jadeite chip vintage necklace and earrings

Jade varies in colour from a bright translucent green, a turquoise green, light blue to a very pale almost white green. Black nephrite jade originates from China. Jadeite is available in green, lavender, pink, orange and brown mainly from Burma. Jade can also be dyed many other colours. Colour and clarity of jade effects the price and value. Clear, bright and even coloured jade demands high prices.  

Identifying jade is a headache as many different gemstones are used. Imitations were mostly used in costume jewellery and real jade with gold and silver settings. But again not always!

Bowenite - softer than jade and can be scratched
Grossulaar garnet - labeled "African or Transvaal jade"
Chrysophas
Prenita
Aventurine
Carnelian
Glass
Soapstone
Dyed marble
Plastic

Gemstones are colder than glass to the touch but unless you are an expert in jade, then using a gem tester makes identification easier. Interestingly some of the cheaper gemstones used then have now become collectible in their own right.  

 

Glass cabochons used in the vintage tie pin cufflink of cufflinks from Sarah Coventry 

 

Antique & Vintage Jewellery Glossary Part E

Today the sun is shinning and I am trying very hard to resist the call of the garden. So much to do and so little time..

Husband Mark is still suffering from a very nasty chest infection. But hopefully these second lot of antibiotics will get him back on his feet.

Back to today's subject of the jewellery glossary on the letter E

Enamelling - A technique for decorating jewellery and other metal objects. In which a silicate of glass mixed with powdered metallic oxides, which produce the desired colour, is placed on metal in a prepared design and then fused until the enamel paste or powder adheres to the metal. Also can be cold enamelled where the enamel is in a paint form and applied to the metal with a brush by hand and allowed to dry.

The signed vintage jewellery from Exquisite was often hand enamelled using the cold enamel technique

Here is a Christmas brooch of holly with berries by Exquisite

Our Christmas vintage jewellery will be on sale at the end of August.

 

En Esclavage - A necklace in which several strands start together and then separate, at an equal distance from the other

Emerald - A precious green variety of the mineral beryl. The range of colours can be from plastic looking milky grass green to the richest of transparent greens. Associated with fertility, prophecy and abundance. Originally mined in Egypt thousands of years ago. But now mined in Brazil, Columbia, Russia, Pakistan and South Africa.
High quality emeralds are used in fine jewellery and the opaque emeralds with occlusions are often used in costume jewellery. "Indian emeralds" are not real emeralds but dyed quartz.    

Eternity rings - Those in the form of a hoop, the circle being regarded as the symbol of eternity. The plain hoop of the wedding ring symbolizes eternal fidelity. Eternity rings are usually set with a continuous line of small stones.

 Vintage brooch from Exquisite Beech Leaf cold hand enamelled

Vintage insect brooch enamelled in green and blue

Vintage white enamel necklace from Jewelcraft

Sarah Coventry's Brochure 1976 Dating Vintage Jewellery Part 4

We are still waiting to implement a shopping cart onto our website Jewels and Finery Craft and upgrade the one on Jewels and Finery. It has been a two part process and having secured our merchant accounts quite quickly, we fully expected to be up and running by this week. However part 2 was not happening. So yesterday after 5 phone calls and 7 emails (Yes I was slowly loosing the will to live)  I think it will happen within the next week! Watch this space. I needed that ginger beer (the alcoholic variety) last night!!

So back to dating vintage jewellery with the 1976 spring brochure. Here is the next 4 pages. The photographs should enlarge when clicked on.

Page 16

 A - Golden Sunset Earrings for pierced ears
B - Victoria Blue Ring
C - Victoria Blue Pendant
D - Golden Sunset Pendant 21"
E - Victoria Blue Necklace 44"
F - Secret Love Locket Bracelet (with its new designed adjustable clasp)

Page 17

 
A - Cameo fashions necklace (24" and 30" chains)
B - Flutter Byes Necklace (20" & 33" - 53" overall)

Page 18

A - Tinsel Twist Pin
B - Tinsel Twist Earrings
C - Loop - La - Loop Earrings (gold tone & silver tone)
D - Gold Swirls ring
E - Golden Swirls Earrings (pierced)
F - Golden swirls bracelet

Page 19

A - Credo Cross 24"
B - Encounter Pendant 21"
C - Autumn Splendor pin
D - Autumn Splendor earrings

Big Pinwheel vintage brooch

Soon to be listed the matching vintage clip earrings

 To be listed shortly also this gorgeous brooch from Sarah Coventry called Blue Lagoon (early to late 1960s)

This brooch was actually made by DeLizza and Elster but along with the other companies that D & E made for. The brooch is signed Sarah Coventry. Matching clip earrings can be found.  

   

Photographing Antique & Vintage Jewellery

Today was an ideal day for photographing our jewellery out doors.
Not too hot and not too cold. Also we have found that the best time is early morning or late afternoon as after 11 am the sun is high in the sky and casts shadows onto the background that we use. Making it a bit more difficult to get the right light.

I love sparkling jewellery, so here is a few pieces that we took photographs of today.

The local wild life just take our presence in their stride. The squirrels just go around us and carry on feeding at the bird table. So do most of the birds, all except the wood pigeons who really are a bit brainless. They dawdle along heading for the bird feeders, and then suddenly see us and take fright. If you look very closely you may be able to see the flock of sea gulls that were circling overhead on our last shoot, reflecting on the black marble background.
This snail decided to move out of the watering can

   

But he was nowhere near my hostas - I hope!!