Notes & stories
The School of Fine Jewelry
lessons in antique & vintage jewelry
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What Is Retro Jewelry? Big Gold, Bows and Hollywood (1935-1950)
Big sculptural gold, bows and tank bracelets - the glamour Hollywood kept up while gold was rationed. How to know Retro when you see it.
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What Is Art Nouveau Jewelry? Nature, Whiplash Lines and a Short Golden Age
For twenty years jewelry was about dragonflies, orchids and flowing lines instead of carats. Why the style burned so bright and vanished so fast.
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What Is Georgian Jewelry? The Era Before Machines (1714-1837)
The last jewelry ever made entirely by hand, and the rarest era you can collect. What closed backs, foiled stones and candlelight have to do...
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What Is a Pinky Ring? The Finger That Carries the Family
Three sets of initials cut into 23K gold in Sweden in 1900, on a ring sized for the finger that traditionally carried them. Antique Signet...
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Is Antique Jewelry a Good Investment? Yes, and Here Is Why
Fifty-eight grams of Danish 14K. Gold has been money for five thousand years, and this is what that looks like on a wrist. Danish Vintage...
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Wedding Band vs Engagement Ring: Which Is Which, and Which Goes First
Heavy 23K, engraved all the way round, and made to be worn for fifty years without being thought about. Heavy Old Engraved Wedding Band, 23K...
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What Does a Ring on Each Finger Mean?
A French lily in ruby and diamond from around 1900, made for a hand that would be looked at. Antique French Lily Ring, ruby and...
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Anniversary Gemstones by Year: The Complete List
Diamond, ruby, sapphire and emerald in one band, which covers the tenth, fortieth, forty-fifth and sixtieth in a single purchase. Diamond, Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald...
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How Big Is a One Carat Diamond, Really?
A full carat of diamond here, spread across a whole bouquet rather than gathered into one stone. Same weight, entirely different object. Antique Bouquet Diamond...
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The 4Cs Explained, and Why They Matter Less on an Antique Diamond
Two old mine cuts, each ground by hand to a shape the modern grading scale has no column for. Old Mine Cut Diamond Solitaire Stud...
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What Is Onyx? The Black Stone That Is Usually Dyed
Black against gold is one of the few combinations that has never once looked dated. Black Onyx Ring, 18K gold, 1962 Onyx is a variety...
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Coral in Antique Jewelry: Why It Was Everywhere, and Why It Is Not Now
A Victorian cat carved from coral, which tells you most of what you need to know about how seriously the nineteenth century took this material....
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