Why Antique Jewelry is Best - Post 156.

  #4282 Georgian earrings.

I have the luxury of selling only items that I, personally, really like. Anyone who has seen my inventory knows that the vast majority of what I sell is antique. There are a few good reasons for this. Antique jewelry has some great advantages over the new. 

#7595 Sarah Ho. Beautiful work in this day and age.  
Let's not beat about the bush: most newer jewelry, from the mid 20th century onwards, was made by machines. It is mass-produced with the focus on profit and ease of production. The manufacturer cares little for anything beyond making more money. You can't trust their materials and workmanship is shoddy. Designs are dead boring or at best, a rehash of pieces made in the past. **

#7146 Exquisitely fine workmanship on this cross by Giuliano.
100 years or so ago, not just anyone could enter the jewelry trade. There was an arduous and long process of apprenticeship and those who complete it were justifiably proud of their creations. The jewelry they made were usually one-offs. Hand Made meant Hand Made and not assembled bits. Unique items that can often be identified without even a maker's mark as their creative stamp was an integral part of the jewel.  Jewelers took great pride in their products. They invested time, imagination and thought into every aspect from design to finish, and they did not skimp on effort. A great jeweler became great because he often lavished more effort, time and care on a piece than was economically sensible. But, what counted to him was the end-result, which was considered a real work of art. The jewel reflected him, his ability and his standards. As recently as the 1920 and 30's Madame Boivin would send a piece back to the manufacturer 3 times, not allowing him to rest until the piece was perfect. Pierre Cartier had the same reputation. Perfection, perfection, perfection. 

#5648. Finely carved cameo.
In the old days, jewelry was truly beautiful Art, with the added advantage that it could be worn. Almost every piece was unique and so buying and wearing a particular item, reflected the wearer and her / his personality, needs and status. With mass-production, jewelry just tells us that the wearer is yet another sheep, following the flock. It reflects nothing of the personal. 

#4545 Georgian necklace  -
When you buy an antique jewel, you can usually be pretty sure that the materials are what they purport to be. Synthetics were extremely rare. Everything was straight from nature. Today, not only do fakes abound, but synthetics and lab-grown gems have become a real problem. Many qualified appraisers or gemologists either cannot differentiate between the true and the false, or they do not have the sophisticated equipment with which to do so. Laboratories like the GIA are in a constant battle to keep up with new fake-making techniques and how to detect them. Can you detect a glass-filled ruby?

Buying new jewelry is like buying a car, but more so. As soon as you leave the showroom, the value plummets. Try to sell it: in most cases, you can barely give this kind of jewelry away. You'll be lucky to sell it for scrap value. 
With antique jewelry, the opposite is true. I have many old catalogues, going back decades and I have watched sales for many years. In my opinion, antique jewelry just goes up in value. Even during the economic collapse of 2008, to my surprise, antique jewelry was still much in demand. 

  #7302 Exquisitely carved coral. 
Today, society is concerned with sustainability, recycling and the ethics of mining and production. Antique jewelry is the ultimate example of recycling. A jewel passed down and enjoyed by generations  instead of discard and waste.  As the generations pass, we get added pleasure thinking of those who enjoyed this item before us. I am reading a book about a famous woman explorer. You can imagine my excitement when I managed to buy the very necklace her fiancée gave her when they got engaged. When a single pearl owned by Marie Antoinette came up for auction not long ago, it achieved the astonishing sum of $36million. Wow!!

Then, there is the simple matter of personal taste. You like red and I like blue. You like old, I like new. No need to say any more.

 ** There is designer jewelry made today, but it is very little known to most of us and prices usually put it out of our league. Another large part of new productions are highly derivative of antique jewelry, which almost proves the point that Antique Jewelry is Best.
#5015 A very old Mickey.