I am looking for some nice antique jewelry

[kevinnov09]

Hello,

I'm looking for some nice antique jewelry  because I have always been fascinated by

the interesting designs of  antique and Unique Jewelery - something like gold, diamond

jewelry and good for layering!

Any suggestions from anyone ?

[regularjoe2]

Ebay has lots of things  .... your local jeweler may have some as well .

You may also want to check local/regional auction houses for specific 'vintages' of jewelry items as well .


*****and PLEASE , don't forget to check your local antique shops !

I've been seeing a fair amount of jewelry up for sale from private parties too , as of late .


Please be aware that some , if not most , high quality antique jewelry can be higher priced than new stuff , even when the quality of the diamond cut/clairity/carat/color  is lacking .


I'd suggest setting a budget BEFORE you go shopping ( but that's just me ) , and take your time looking around - unless you can't resist buying a piece you see .


If you can't find what you're looking for , specifically , you might consider placing an ad for exactly what you're looking for ?

Happy hunting , kevinnov09 !

[talesofthesevenseas]

Another suggestion is to find an antique setting and add your own stone, that way you can control the costs.

This is a ring of mine that was recovered from the wreck of the General Abbatucci which sank in 1869. It was part of a jewelers stock that went down with the ship, so it had no stone and was already an older ring when it went down.

I chose to set an Imperial topaz in it because I loved the way the color of the stone set off the gold of the ring. I didn't want the stone to overshadow what I feel is a beautiful setting.

Here is the final result- I will get a photo that shows the detail of the setting.

[talesofthesevenseas]

Below are the up-close shots of the setting. If I remember correctly, I paid about $100 on Ebay for the setting, and then found a really good jeweler, who let me try different stones in it to find the stone I liked best, and then he did a lot of hunting for me until he found one the right size and cut to work in this old-style "buttercup" setting. The cool thing about the buttercup style is that all those little tubes channel light to the underside of the stone and make it glow beautifully in any light. The stone I think was under $300 and there was a very reasonable fee for the jeweler so the whole thing was about $400-ish.

But the coolest thing to me is knowing that the history of the ring and how it has been given a new life after more than a century at the bottom of the ocean!

FYI if you buy something from a shipwreck be aware that it may be very fragile, on a microscopic level, due to the alloys in the gold having been exposed to salt water. In the case of my ring under a microscope it has tiny holes in it. The gold is fine but the other alloys were eaten away and it left microscopic holes, making the ring very fragile. So I only put it on for very special occasions where the most strenuous activity I do is lifting a champagne glass!

So this is why I wanted to show you the setting up-close. Look how unusual it is with all the interlocking curves and the tiny details on the surfaces. I have never seen a ring like this one before and I fell in love with it the minute I saw it on Ebay. That's what I love about antique jewelry is that the pieces can be so interesting and entirely unique. Plus they do not have to be expensive!